You'll Find Wonder
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, alternating days, 905a-966a: Yanked out of time by a mystery man, Quinn Fabray meets another with a blue box and a plan for an uprising.
1. The Wellesley Express to Nowhere

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 43rd cycle. Now cycle 44!_

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_**INTRODUCING "CHEAT SHEET" - **If you want to know ahead of time when a certain series will be updated next, just reassemble the link below and check out the list, save it, print it, bookmark it, whatever you need!  
Go to: gleekathon [dot] tumblr [dot] com [slash] cheatsheet_

_** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 44 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about **shift days**!_

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_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 2._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"  
The Doctor (11th) & Quinn  
Doctor Who/Glee crossover  
(previous DW/G crossovers: "Oh Doctor, Doctor" & "A Gap in Memory")**

**Timeframe: Doctor Who between s5/s6 - Glee at the ending of 'On My Way'**

**1. The Wellesley Express to Nowhere**

She couldn't have known what was about to happen to her. She was rushing on her way to Rachel and Finn's wedding, having to answer her continuous texts begging to know when she'd be there. Rolling down that road, there were already too many things happening, so the last thing she needed was one more.

It happened in a flash, really just... A flash.

That flash carried a man, who just appeared - really, there was no better word for it, appeared, in the passenger seat at her side. She wouldn't even get to process this apparition before the next thing happened. The man snapped to, looking at her. "Oh that is not... Hold on!" He'd looked... past her, must have seen something, then she'd dropped her phone when he'd hooked his arm with hers and pressed at something around his other wrist.

For a moment it felt like her heart had stopped, like she had ceased to exist. The light of the late afternoon sun was replaced with darkness of night and a breeze that came with it as she crashed to the ground, tumbling with this man that had... appeared, yes, definitely appeared. As soon as she had knowledge of this, realized it, she scrambled back on her hands, never letting him leave her sight.

"What... What just happened?" She finally got a good look at him, at least as much as the light of night allowed her. He was tall, dark hair, kind of stocky... The way he was dressed, he could have been an action hero. He got up, dusting himself off.

"Well I've had cleaner landings," he chuckled at her. "Messed up coordinates, was off by a decade and a mile."

"What are you..." she blinked, confused at his complete lack of sense. If that wasn't bad enough, she was now getting a look at her surroundings, and she panted with panic as she confirmed she was nowhere near Lima... They didn't have forests like this. "Where am I, how..."

"Sorry, wish I could help, but I need to get going. Listen, though... Good luck, and if I can give you one piece of advice, don't tell anyone where - or when - you're from and you'll do fine," he told her before starting to move off. She hurried to her feet, needing to follow him.

"No, wait, you can't just leave me here like this, I... I don't even know where I am..."

"Least of your worries," he cocked his head, never missing a beat.

"How did I get here, we were somewhere else a minute ago, and it was daytime."

"I did you a favor," he scoffed. "It was an accident, but trust me, you should be thanking me," he turned to point a finger at her, which slowed him down enough for her to catch up with him and come to stand in his way.

"You call that a favor, it's kidnapping!"

"Alright, I'm going to just... Here we go," he took her by the arms and moved her aside to keep going. "There's a good girl, and it's not kidnapping, I'm not keeping you, am I? Run along, please," he waved her off, turning and striding off. That wasn't going to make her stop. That was going to make her go faster.

"You think you're so clever, swooping in, taking me who knows where like it's no big deal, and what's that thing on your arm?" she reached for it just as he stepped back, but then he was covering it with his other hand and... another flash. He was gone, and she was alone to swallow what she had just witnessed.

This couldn't be real. Things like this weren't real, only... Nothing had made sense for a good ten minutes now. Men appearing and disappearing, being in one place one second and another the next... and some of the things he was saying...

She was on her own, lost... but not without her wits. She wasn't going to fix a thing by just standing there, waiting for the disappearing man to come back and rescue her. No, she had to go and see for herself and then maybe she would find her way back home.

She started walking... There was no point in trying to ascertain the "right direction," with everything around her looking the same. So she just picked one way. She went the way her friendly disappearing kidnapper had been going before she had interrupted him. She walked for maybe fifteen minutes finding nothing but trees, trees, and more... a blue box?

She stopped, frowning... The phrase "one of these things is not like the others" did come to mind. In the middle of this forest, it was sticking out like a sore thumb, and well... She started walking toward it, cautious, looking around... She saw no one, but then it was dark, so they could be hiding in ample shadows.

What was it about that box that drew her so? Sure, it said police on it, and in her situation it couldn't be a bad idea to get help, but if she was honest, that had nothing to do with it, and much more with the oddity of its presence. In a day - or night - of impossible things becoming possible, the thing that stood out just made a different kind of sense.

"Hello?" she tempted, taking a quick look about as she made her call... Nothing. She took a few more steps. "Is... Anyone there?" she tried again, still walking. There were doors, on the blue box... Suppose she could get them open, she could at least hide there until it was day out again, or...

The doors opened, and she came to a stop as she watched a man walk out of the box, shut the doors again, and then turn... When he saw her, standing there, he froze too.

"Hello..." he broke silence, and there was a hint of curiosity in his voice, though he didn't move - neither did she.

"Hi," she answered. He stood up straighter.

"American?" he asked, curious all over again.

"Yes," she confirmed, then to him, "British?"

"Not quite," he tilted his head, then started approaching, finally, not too quick. "What's your name?" he asked. She didn't back away. She thought she would, but she didn't feel threatened.

"Quinn... Quinn Fabray," she volunteered. Now he stood before her, and he looked upon her.

"I'm the Doctor. Now how did a girl like you end up in a time like this?"

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	2. The Telltale Signs of Time Displacement

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 4._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**2. The Telltale Signs of Time Displacement**

She didn't know what it was about his choice of words in introducing himself to her, but he'd gone and created a mix of trust and distrust. "The Doctor," she repeated. "Is that like a nickname?" she asked.

"It's my name and, tell me, is that really what you want to pick on right now?"

"No, I guess not. Fine… Doctor," she tested, and he nodded. "Are you from around here? I don't even know where 'here' is," she looked around.

"Oh, I'm far from home, a lot further than you, but I may still be of some assistance. How is it that you came to be here?" he asked, and there was that curiosity again. As odd as the man was, he was the only person she had encountered since the man with the wrist cuff had disappeared away, and she wasn't too threatened by him, so having to tell him the truth of her experience worried her. What if he thought she was insane, what if he went away? She was realizing how much she had been scared before, but wasn't scared anymore now that he was there.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she shook her head.

"I can guarantee you I will," he vowed, and she knew he was telling the truth. That trust did send off one red flag or two, but she could ignore them for now. She took a breath, frowning to herself before she just decided to go for it.

"I was in my car, driving to a friend's wedding."

"Good friend?"

"Long story," she replied as fast as he'd asked. "It all happened so fast, one second I was alone, and the next there was this guy sitting next to me, he was saying something, and then he just grabbed my arm and he touched… he has this thing on his arm," she mimed. "He pushed a button or something, and then we were here, and it was night. He started walking away, I tried to follow, and then he did the thing with the cuff again and… he disappeared. I started walking, and that's when I found you…" her voice dragged, her eyes still drawn to the blue box… Was there light from inside?

"He was going that way?" the Doctor asked, pointing behind himself, and Quinn nodded. He turned and followed the way she'd indicated, and after one guy who'd walked away and ended up disappearing, she wasn't going to let this one get way. She hurried her steps, almost bumping into him when he turned. "Good, there you are."

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, I was going to pop in with old Cleo, but this does not look like Egypt, does it?" he looked around. "But then something tells me someone had other plans…" he looked over his shoulder for a moment, though Quinn was much more concerned with his decline into making even less sense. "California… I'm feeling California."

"Cal… I was in Ohio twenty minutes ago!" she blinked and he looked to her.

"Ohio?"

"Lima," she specified, and he looked back ahead, hiding away the flicker of recognition in his eyes. He'd been to Lima before, once. This had been when he had a different face, and… Donna… He had a feeling if he asked, he'd find she knew the boy they'd met at the Gap.

"I'm going to be absolutely honest now: you're not in Lima anymore."

"How is that even possible?"

"If that's giving you pause, I can't imagine this next part is going to make it any easier," he almost cringed as they went on walking.

"What next part?" she asked, apprehensive.

"Tell me, what year is it?" When she didn't answer, he looked to her, nodded as though to say 'go on, say it.' She still hesitated for a moment.

"2012," she finally stated.

"Not anymore," he announced, resuming their stride. "Wish I could tell you more, but I only just got here, and all I can confirm is I am not where or when I intended to be. Care to make a wager? I'd say early nineteen hundreds." She stopped walking, which took him about thirty seconds to realize. He stopped, turned to look and found her still standing back there. "He was going that way, wasn't he? Well, come on!" he waved her over. When she still wouldn't move, he walked back to her. "Looking at your face now, I can see this is a lot to take, and you might not believe me yet. That's alright, you need proof. I'm afraid you won't be finding any of that by standing here and giving me that look with your eyebrow," he pointed. "You're not going to find a way home, either." She took a breath, and her face relaxed.

"Fine, let's go," she walked past him, and he followed.

"Wherever we end up, it's very important, do exactly as I say."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because if we are when I think we are, you might have trouble blending in."

"That's a problem because…"

"Because a time agent took you from Lima, Ohio in 2012 and took you… here, now… and then abandoned you. It could be that this was an accident, but it could also be that it wasn't."

"And if it wasn't, then…" He looked at her, eye to eye.

"Then do as I say."

"Got it," she promised, and they carried on walking. "A time agent," she repeated.

"Yes."

"Is that what you are?" she asked, and he gave a quick laugh. "I'll take that as a no. What are you then? If you travel in time like you say you do…"

"I do," he insisted.

"Yes, well, how do you…"

They both came to a sudden stop, eyes turning up as the trees cleared and they came upon an encampment, with tents, and lights, and…

"I smell… horses," she looked to him.

"Listen," he pointed to his ear, and she did so. "Now put it all together, and we have…"

"It's a circus," she blinked, smiled. He held out his hand to her, offered a smile.

"Shall we?" He wasn't the only one with curiosity. So she took his hand.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	3. The Real Magic Is No Magic At All

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 6._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**3. The Real Magic Is No Magic At All**

There were people everywhere they looked. It wasn't as though they were squeezed in like sardines, but it was definitely crowded. After their trek through the forest it was hard to believe they'd been so close to all of this without knowing. It didn't take long for Quinn to understand what he'd meant about her having trouble blending in to the crowd, with her very pink dress. And then there was the Doctor, who for the most part probably was 'dressed for the occasion,' but then stuck out because of his… overflowing exuberance.

He was like a big lanky kid, who had gone and forgotten about her situation. He'd see one thing, skitter up close, then get distracted and veer the other way, pick up something, twist it around. If she didn't know he was her only shot at going home right now...

"Where are you going?" she was snapped out of thought when she saw him slip between two tents, out of sight. She hurried and followed, finding herself slipping between more and more tents, like a long and narrow tunnel had swallowed them up. "Doctor?" she called out, and one second later he was back up in her face, covering her mouth with his hand and holding a finger to his lips.

"Indoor voices," he whispered, and she frowned, reproducing her craned eyebrow. "Alright, don't give me that look," he let go, straightening his jacket and bow tie.

"Fine, so why are we whispering?" she spoke, voice low.

"Hey!" a girl's voice startled them.

"That's why," he looked Quinn in the eye before turning to find the girl who'd caught them there. She was tall, messy brown hair pulled into a braid resting over her shoulder. She looked about Quinn's age, maybe just barely older.

"You shouldn't be back here," she sounded more like someone who wanted to get them out of trouble than into it.

"Terribly sorry, we may be lost, who are you, what's your name?" he asked, and Quinn was starting to see a pattern emerge.

"Violet... My name's Violet," the girl spoke, no, whispered now. "Just turn around and go back the way you came from," she pointed the way.

"We're sorry, we'll go, we... Doctor?" Quinn was all set to do as told, but the Doctor only kept looking at the girl.

"What's over there?" he asked, never breaking eye contact.

"It's not open to the public," was all she'd say, keeping his eye as well.

"Vi? Are you there?" a boy's voice called, and Violet blinked, looking over her shoulder.

"I told you to stay back!" she spoke to the boy who emerged from the shadows. He was shorter than her, probably about fifteen years old, but with the same messy brown hair, the same wide brown eyes, the odds were they were brother and sister.

"And who are you?" the Doctor asked, and the boy looked to him.

"Nicholas," he frowned. "Who are you?"

"He was just leaving," Violet spoke up. "Both of them," her eyes went to Quinn. The blonde was already envisioning having to drag him away, but all of a sudden he stood back up.

"Yes, we were just leaving," he announced. "Violet, Nicholas," he nodded to each of them, patting the boy on the shoulder as he passed and collected Quinn on their way back through the tents. When they landed back in the open area, he paused, looked around, then chose one way. "This way!" he called to Quinn, leaving little choice but to follow.

"Where are we going now?" she frowned, losing faith that she would ever find the other guy and get back home.

"Do you notice something right now?" he asked her.

"Beside the fact that you're just running around?" she asked, and he looked back to her. She sighed, obliging him and looking around. She saw it now. "Where is everyone going?" she asked, watching the people heading one way as a crowd.

"It's a circus, I would assume they are going to the show," he came to stand at her side, offering her his hand for the second time that day. "Feel like taking in a show?"

"Do I have any other choice?"

"Of course. We always have a choice," he spoke honestly. "Right now, yours are not... many... but you always have a choice. So what will it be?" After a moment, she took up his hand, and they joined the others. "We should definitely get you some new clothes as soon as we can," he sighed, and she frowned.

"You're talking like we're going to be here a while," she remarked.

"Is this about this wedding you were getting to?" he looked to her, like he couldn't believe she was still hung up on that. "You have travelled back in time. And no matter whether it takes us one hour or one year to find the time agent who took you here..."

"A year?" Quinn interjected but the Doctor kept going.

"... when you get back home, it will be the same moment in which you left, alright?" She frowned, but then she nodded. "So let's see what we have here," he told her as they got up the line. A man stopped them.

"Tickets?" he called, and the Doctor showed him the psychic paper.

"Right here," he smiled, tugging Quinn along.

"You have tickets? We just got here..." she was stunned.

"I have connections," was all he'd say. They followed the throngs of people, getting seats on the edge of the line.

"Why does it still feel like there's something you're not telling me?" she asked, the voices of the crowd still covering them. He looked at her and he almost seemed impressed.

"Maybe I have a feeling is all," he explained.

"A feeling?" she repeated. The voices were getting quiet.

"On with the show," the Doctor leaned to tell her with a smile. She would have tried not to smile but it would have been a strain.

The man that came to the center had to be the ringmaster, definitely looked the part, and when he announced himself as the great Magnus, it made sense. Quinn looked around, really looked around for the first time, and also for the first time... she believed him. Up until then she still could cling to some hope that this was all a big joke, but now she believed it... They were in the past.

"Alright?" she felt the Doctor give her hand a squeeze and she looked to him, finding kind eyes stating back at her. He had understood what she had finally accepted, and he was concerned for her. Now she knew she would follow the man wherever he told her they should go.

In the time they hadn't been paying attention, "the great Magnus" had finished his talk, and now the ring was empty again, though not for long. A complete hush fell upon the crowd, and so the Doctor and Quinn waited to see what would happen.

The woman came shuffling in, her stride flowing gracefully like any of her movements ever would be. Even with her cloak on, they could tell she was as lean as she was tall. Flame red hair ran down her back, and it took a moment for them both to see she had her eyes closed, from the time she had come walking in. She kept them shut, as young Nicholas came in to retrieve the cloak she took off and carried it away. Her clothes were as lithe as she was... Ethereal came to mind.

Now that he saw her well, the Doctor's previous exuberance was effaced. He looked to the crowd around, waiting in total silence, looked to the girl in the middle, and now his feeling that something was going on was confirmed.

"We need to get out of here," he told Quinn.

"The show is about to start," she pointed out.

"Which is why we need to go, before she opens her eyes," he looked caught with urgency now, so she did as told, exiting the row with her and dashing toward the exit.

"What's going on?" Quinn asked. "What happens if she opens her eyes?"

Right then, a light came from inside, and... She wanted to go back in there. No, she didn't want to, but she did want to, or something inside her did, like a pull.

"D... Doctor?" she blinked, and he pulled at her arm.

"Don't look at it, just turn away and come with me," he instructed, and she slowly nodded, still drawn to the light. "Quinn!"

"Sorry," she managed to turn away and now they ran. The longer it had been since she had been staring at the light, the easier it seemed to get away from it. "What just happened?" she asked, once they reached the forest. He breathed, looking at her.

"She was the first act. If having her was anything unique, they would have kept it for later, which tells me she is not the only one."

"The only what?" Quinn asked, lost. The Doctor took a breath.

"I can tell you've accepted that I have been telling you the truth, and that's good, because what I am about to tell you may be even more important for you to believe."

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	4. Little Green Men and Other Strangers

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 9._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**4. Little Green Men & Other Strangers**

They had started walking back through the forest, and after a while neither of them would say a word. She'd ask him what was going on, but he said he would tell her once they got 'there,' wherever 'there' was. He wouldn't say, so she stopped asking. Then they were back at the blue box.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's my… ship," he took a breath and looked to her.

"Your ship," she repeated, frowning. "Like a "spaceship" ship?" He nodded. She looked back to it, left, right… "It's a bit cramped. You couldn't get a bigger one?" He could have said something, but he held his words for now. "You travel alone then." He stepped away from her side, facing her, the box at his back. "Are you going to tell me what happened back there now, with the light, and the running?"

"Sure, that woman was an alien," he spoke all at once. She froze.

"Right," she chuckled.

"Well, that's the general terminology of it, you hear 'alien,' you understand."

"You said 'she is not the only one.' Violet and Nicholas?"

"Oh, no, they're human, human as could be," he waved it off. "But I think that's who's performing in this... circus." He looked so serious now, and yet she still couldn't get past the fact he was now talking about the existence of aliens.

"This is a dream, isn't it?" she shook her head. "Teleportation, time travel, now aliens? Do you think I just… Ow!" He had pinched her arm. She grasped at the spot he'd pinched, frowning at him.

"Sorry, had to do it. You're not dreaming. Teleportation, time travel, aliens, and here's the kicker…" He snapped his fingers, and the doors to the blue box opened. The glow of lights from inside washed over her face and her mouth fell open. Even from outside, she knew that what she'd seen of the box and its size did not match what she was seeing in there. Her foot tempted a step forward, but then pulled back…

"This… This isn't possible," she shook her head, even though what she was seeing was telling her it was very… very real.

"Go on, give it a look," he nodded to the inside, amused.

"Isn't this the part in the movie where you yell 'Don't get in the car, you're about to be kidnapped?'" Still, she gathered up her courage and walked through the open doors. It was like something out of a dream. Everywhere she looked, there was something new for her to discover. She looked back when he shut the doors.

"There's a draft," he pointed behind himself.

"This is going to sound silly…"

"Oh, my favorite kind," he stepped past her toward the controls.

"I used to dream of a place like this, when I was younger," she spoke as she kept looking around. "I always thought the ships in all the movies and on TV, they were too… perfect, there was something missing like… life…" She looked back to him and he had this sort of weird pride on his face.

"Quinn Fabray, I like you…"

"Are you crying?" she smirked.

"Not at all," he straightened up, defiant.

"I like your ship," she completed.

"TARDIS," he specified. She approached, cautious.

"Can I?" she indicated the controls.

"Maybe later," he promised, and she pulled her hand back down.

"So your… TARDIS… travels through space?"

"And time," he bowed.

"Great, so why can't you take me home?"

"Too many variables, your best chance is to return as you came, and that means finding your time agent."

"Great…" now it didn't sound so optimistic. Something occurred to her now, and her eyes flicked back to the Doctor. Just as before, words were coming back to her, and with more context they suggested something new. She observed him, and she wondered… "Where are you from? You're… alien, aren't you?" she made herself say it.

"Hello," he waved rather than saying yes. Some part of her wanted to panic at the thought, but then the rest of her had already decided she trusted him and that she was safe so long as she was with him, so…

"But you look human, you're not…"

"What, green?" he asked.

"Well, yeah… Is that like an insult?"

"From you I'll take it, just because I like you," he pointed his finger at her.

"Where are you from? Any place I know?" she gave the lighthearted joke with a shrug.

"No, it's long gone by now, I'm afraid," there was a momentary sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she had to say. He turned back toward the console, then pointed to one lever.

"Go on, pull that one," he told her. She came up next to him, pointed to make sure and he nodded, so she pulled the lever. The room gave a shudder.

"What'd I do?" she asked.

"Cloaked us from anyone who might pass by," he told her. She looked to him, deciding to ignore the fact that he had evaded the subject of his home.

"So what do we do now? We have to find the time agent, yes?" He breathed, and suddenly he was back to his lively self.

"In the morning," he declared. "There's something to be said for daylight."

"What about until then? I mean technically for me it's still afternoon or… early evening at the most," she frowned, wondering just how long it had been since she'd left Lima… "Do they know I'm gone?" She asked him. "It's the past now so it hasn't happened, but…" He stopped her, putting a hand to her shoulder. "Right, guess I shouldn't worry about that right now. If we don't find this guy, then I'll never find out…"

"Are we still talking about your time travel or is there something else?" he asked. Maybe he wasn't the only one with subjects to evade. "Why don't I show you to your room?" he spoke jovially and she chuckled.

"Is this like a space motel?"

"Alright, that one I might take personally," he took her by the shoulders and directed her toward the rooms.

"At least tell me you have a plan." He gave a noise that sounded to mean 'depends what you mean by plan.' "How about clothes, do you have clothes? I do kind of stick out back there."

"As a matter of fact…" he now pulled instead of pushed, taking a corridor they had just passed until they could reach a set of doors. He walked her in, and there she stopped, looking… up, down, left, right… so many clothes. "For this time, and season, I would say somewhere over there," he pointed. She looked back to him.

"Space ship, alien, and lots of girls' clothes," she listed off.

"Yes, what's your point?" he scoffed. She just smiled.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	5. Back When We Had Real Names

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 10._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**5. Back When We Had Real Names**

Her name was Annidae, but here they called her Temptress. She said nothing of it, or of anything for that matter. As far as any of them knew, she was mute, and she preferred it that way. She knew what she was, and she knew what they were, and yet no one here seemed to understand this wasn't her home. Well, not everyone, only those outside this place, the ones who came to see them. They could never know the truth of it. They just came, sat there to watch them, and then they went away. She was stuck here.

She didn't need anyone to lead her. If she was to 'make an appearance' around the camp, where the visitors could see her, they'd have the boy, Nicholas, walk her around, his arm hooked with hers like she needed a guide because she couldn't see. She could see just fine when she had her eyes closed. Her sight was not as people here would understand. And then there was her gift… Well that was another thing entirely.

"We're here, Anni," Nicholas announced as he'd walked her back to the 'performers' tent.' He knew that she could see fine, and still he had the reflex to announce where they were when they would arrive. She had only ever broken her silence with him. The boy was innocent, one of the few here, and she knew to trust him. She stroked his cheek with a smile – thank you – before leaving him there. There were lookouts at the front of the tent who would let her in. They wouldn't let her out again, not until morning.

There were six of them who were 'not of this world. All of them were housed… kept… in this tent, but the two who were kept in separate tents, away from them. When she entered, her three 'roommates' were already there, eating from the dinner always laid out for them after each show. They looked up briefly when she entered, then got back to eating. She took the last seat, served herself. If any of them were wise to the situation, and she knew they were, they knew she wasn't mute. They hadn't betrayed her, not one.

The one sitting at her right had no name, or at least he did not know it. What she knew of how he had gotten here was more or less what he himself knew. He had crash landed here, a few years back, and after that he couldn't remember anything, not his name, not where he'd come from or why. He could have gone and become part of the people of this world, maybe, remade his life, except for one issue… he was red. Head to toe, his skin was a bright red color. Of course then, when he'd been brought here, they had given him a name befitting his attributes… Red Bandit. He could not hide even if he had the chance, if he did, then he would be forced to spend his life in hiding, out of sight from anyone. Here, he had a place, despite its limitations. He did as he was told.

The one to her left, they called him Hercules. She didn't know what this meant until Nicholas had told her he was some kind of hero, very strong, and then it made sense. His name as Meran, and he had a formidable strength, which had become his act here. Something had happened to him, between his arrival and when he had joined the tent, that she was sure of, even if he wouldn't speak of it. She was already here when he had been brought to them. It had taken seven men and a good number of chains to keep him from running. Like any of them, he looked 'not quite human,' which they had realized probably had something to do with why it was them and not others who were trapped here. In Meran's case, there was some possibility to make him pass for a local, not that he had cared. But then after a few weeks, it was a changed man who had joined both the show and the tent. No need for chains or extra guards, Whatever fury he had was now snuffed out, and she shuddered to think how they had achieved that.

The last of the inhabitants of the tent, sitting across from her, stood out for a number of reasons. They called him 'Wonder,' but his name was Dex. He was six hundred and thirty years old, though he would find it difficult to have anyone believe him on that fact here. To the humans of this world, he looked like nothing more than a boy of ten, if he wasn't mistaken for a girl at that. Left to hang loose, his hair reached somewhere below his chin, though for the show it was packed tight atop his head and hidden under a hat. In a lot of respects, they resembled each other, him and her. They were both 'long and lean,' as she had once heard, both with sort of rust-colored hair… Some people seemed to think they were related, mother and child, even though they were from worlds away. All this went to say that no one would peg him for the strong man act, and yet that was his act, him and Meran together. Dex was almost stronger than him, which they downplayed for the show, but already the sight of the muscle-free boy lifting such heavy things was enough to impress… She supposed that said a lot about their situation here.

They paused for a moment, hearing the howl. They shared a look, but then they went back to eating. Way out on the other side of the encampment, the howl incited a whole other reaction in the fifth of their contingent of otherworldly performers. The only other female of their lot, her name was Tamrin and back on her world she had been… royalty. Still she had not been satisfied with this, and she had gone out seeking her own honor. She did not know she had been poached, no… She was recruited, selected for this task. They did not let her interact with the others. Perhaps if they did she would realize that this place was not what they'd made her believe it was. She might also wonder why this whole routine had gone on for over a year now. They called her Belle Whip, and they had longed discouraged her using her proper name. Her challenge, when they called her out to that big circle with the spectators, was to tame… him… Him with his howl, it was as though he taunted her. Another night, another demonstration, but now they were back to their own quarters, and he was just howling.

They thought him nothing more than an animal. To the people of this world he almost looked like a lion, or possibly a tiger, or something more canine like the wolf, though that might have been inspired out of his mournful sort of call, from back in his cage as day would turn into night. He could walk as a man, but they willed the more animalistic sort walking on to him… down on all fours. They called him Roar. No one here could understand him, not for anything whether it was trying to understand why he was here, or for them to know that his name was not Roar but Anro, or that he was not looking to attack them, that provoking him before having the other one, this Belle Whip, force him down for all to see was unnecessary. If they all just left him alone…

He wanted to go home, they all did, but perhaps they had forgotten because they knew… How could they possibly get back, ever? If not for this place, they would be helpless, good as dead. So what else were they supposed to do?

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	6. One Team And Then Another

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 11._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**6. One Team And Then Another**

When Quinn had opened her eyes again it had taken her a moment to remember where she was, and that it hadn't been a dream, that it was still happening. The strange little room she had been given did have one thing going for it and it was the bed. The moment her head had hit the pillow, she'd been lulled into such comfort that before long she was sound asleep. Her dreams took her home, to so many questions left unanswered. But then she had woken, and for once her waking world was stranger than her dream one.

She had slept in the pink dress. Her new, more 'time appropriate' clothes were sitting nearby, and after she had finally wrenched herself away from the world's comfiest bed, she had hesitated and then she had started to change. New clothes, new shoes, and then her hair pulled up… There was only one way to know whether she was ready to integrate that time now…

Coming out into the corridor, she wasn't sure how she knew to go one way or the other, but then she had ended up finding him… Yes, he was still there, her alien savior, and now he stood there presenting her with breakfast. When he saw her come in, he sat back. "Now this is more like it," he complimented her new look and she smiled, taking in the spread on the table.

"You got a kitchen in here, too?" she teased.

"Somewhere, yes, although I seem to have misplaced it," he frowned to himself. "For this offering, however, I may have taken a small detour."

"A detour?"

"Paris," he shrugged. Her jaw went slack.

"We're… in Paris, now?"

"Not anymore," he shook his head, then at the disappointed frown on her face. "Sorry, was I supposed to wait for you?"

"Doesn't matter," she shook her head. "What do we do now?"

After eating, they had taken their walk toward the circus again. He could have brought them closer to it, but keeping the blue box at a distance seemed more of a sound choice. They were going to do their best to get a good look around, to see what was happening there and whether the Doctor's theory that there were more aliens there was true.

The place looked very different by daylight. Never mind the fact that there were far less people at this time, the evening gave a whole other atmosphere. "We're not going to get in trouble for going around like this?" Quinn muttered as they reached the encampment.

"The trick here is not to appear out of place," he told her.

"So long as you don't get distracted," she looked to him, remembering how he just kept running from one thing to the other.

"I will be on my best behavior," he obliged her, but then it was her who almost gave them away, when she stopped and grabbed his arm.

"Doctor, it's her…" she gasped, nodding ahead. He looked up, and she was right. Up ahead, the redhead from the previous night was walking along, on Nicholas' arm. "Should we look away?"

"Only when her eyes are open, they're shut now," he assured her. "This may be our chance to talk to her, follow me." She was apprehensive at first. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened the night before when the woman had opened her eyes, but it had been enough for the Doctor to make them leave in a haste. She still remembered the strange little pull she'd felt while seeing even just an afterglow of that light, so what happened to those who'd been right there, watching?

"Hello, Nicholas, remember us?" the Doctor addressed the boy, who looked surprised to see them.

"You're here," was all he could say. The Doctor had been about to reply, but then his eyes had met her closed ones and he saw her mouth open just barely, and he didn't know how she knew, but he was certain she had just pegged him for a Time Lord. She looked startled. She gave Nicholas' arm a tap and he nodded, looking back to the Doctor. "We have to go."

"You have a good day," he waved, smiling, though once they were gone, he frowned, looking back to Quinn. "I don't think she will…" He paused, and now it was him who saw a familiar face, but it wasn't from the night before, no… "Do you see that boy over there?" he asked Quinn discreetly. She looked.

"The kid?"

"I know him, I've met him before."

"When?"

"By his time, I'd say about two hundred years ago, give or take a decade or two," he shrugged.

"He can't be more than ten," she looked over to the Doctor, and he looked back at her.

"I'm over 900 years old," he simply replied, and she almost tripped.

"How does that work?"

"Nothing you need to worry yourself about," he guided her across the way so they could near their target. Dex was staring off in the distance at a trio standing by one of the tents, when he was yanked and pulled between the tents.

"Hey, what do you think you're…" he was this close to striking out, which with his strength could have been deadly. But the Doctor was quick to speak.

"Dex, it's alright, you know me, the Doctor, remember?" The boy froze, observing the man standing before him. After a moment he let his arm down, yanking the man to his knees so that he could stare into his eyes… and then he burst out laughing.

"Time Lord, it is you!" he declared. "You've changed your face."

"Oh, a handful of times, I'm afraid." Just as suddenly as the boy's apprehension had turned to joy, now it turned to caution.

"You need to get out of here before they get their hands on you and make you one of us."

"How many of you are there?" Quinn spoke up, and Dex looked to her.

"Hello," he threw her a smile that just had to upset her, coming from a boy who looked no more than ten years old, no matter how old he was supposed to be.

"Dex, focus, answer the question," the Doctor snapped his fingers in the boy's face.

"Six," he answered. "You can't stay here."

"Consider us gone, thank you. Stay out of trouble," the Doctor scolded, and Dex threw up his hands before marching on his way.

"We're leaving?" Quinn asked. He looked back to her, and she felt a chill… Why didn't she like the look on his face? "What are you thinking?"

"Come along," he grabbed her hand, and they were on their way. He didn't stop until they had reached the forest. "I have a plan… part of a plan… It's a start," he paused, looked to her. "You're not going to like it."

"I didn't think I would." He reached in his pocket, dug deep before producing a key which he placed in her hand.

"Do not lose this, and under no circumstance are you to bring anyone back to the TARDIS, is that clear?"

"Okay," she looked to the key, but then she had to wonder. "Why are you giving me this?"

"You'll need it to get back in," he spoke as though it was obvious.

"But where are you going to be?" she asked, and looking in his eye she had her answer. "No, hold on…" she shook her head. "That's crazy…"

"And I've never been more certain. The best way we'll have access is if I'm in there, and it just so happens I'm exactly the kind of person they're looking for. You, on the other hand, are just the kind of person who can work the other side."

"But…" she started again, and he put his hands to her shoulders.

"You can do this," he promised.

"And the time agent? You still think we'll find him in there?"

"I'm more sure of that than I've ever been." She sighed.

"I'm not going to convince you to try and think of something else, am I?"

"Lesser men have tried," he gave her a smile.

"I don't like this," she maintained.

"Everything will be fine," he nodded.

Soon she would be standing in the forest still, out of sight, and she would watch him march up toward the encampment, to the trio Dex had been spying on. She couldn't make out what the Doctor was saying or doing, but whatever it was it must have worked. One of them, the woman, struck him and he went down, startling Quinn even from far away. Then the men took hold of him and dragged him through the tents.

He was in, a new alien for them to cultivate for their show… And she was on her own.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	7. Learn To Find Your Way Alone

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 13._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**7. Learn to Find Your Way Alone**

He had to admit he hadn't expected the knock out. But then he had been standing there, he'd seen the woman's arm go up, and then… nothing. He woke up all at once again, gasping, and there he found his hands bound behind his back, sitting on a chair inside a tent. "That'll be a mark," he blinked, finally noticing he wasn't alone. It wasn't the woman who'd struck him standing there though. It was that great ring master of a man, Magnus. Without his great big hat and his red coat, he looked fairly normal. He must have been in his late forties, early fifties, hair thinning away…

"Don't be afraid now, the restraints are only as a precaution. I'm afraid some of our previous arrivals have required it," Magnus took a step forward.

"In your opinion, do I look dangerous?" the Doctor asked, wincing back some of the pain he still felt in his head. Magnus almost chuckled.

"Appearances have been deceiving, so you'll have to humor me."

"Sounds fair," the Doctor nodded.

"What's your name, stranger?"

"Some call me John..." he decided, lifting his head. If he was going to infiltrate this place, he had to pick and choose what he was going to be honest about, and where he would lie.

"Well, John, I'm Magnus. Don't be afraid."

"Yes, because why would I be scared after getting knocked unconscious and tied to a chair?"

"Again, precaution," Magnus almost sounded apologetic. "You will become one of us, part of my circus. Now that you are here, all that we ask of you is that you follow the rules, and you'll be alright. Is that understood?"

"I don't see how I could misunderstand that," the Doctor looked aside, seeing the two men from before were standing behind them.

"Alright, untie him, let's see what we've got." The men came up, undoing the ropes and releasing his wrists. "Stand up," Magnus directed and the Doctor did as told. The man observed him like he was evaluating him, and soon he would see that was more or less what it was. "What can you do, John?"

"What can I do?" he repeated.

"Do you have any sort of talent, or ability," Magnus gestured, and as serious as he was trying to take this situation, the Doctor couldn't resist a smile that was more like a smirk.

X

She had wanted to look brave, like all of this was going to be just fine, but after watching him go, after seeing him get dragged away, she was alone and in the silence she could hear her breath growing faster. To say she was far from home was not even covering it. She knew no one, was not in her proper time or place, and was still adjusting to new concepts in reality like travel in time and space and alien life forms. She could drown at any moment, but she couldn't afford that. She needed to get home.

At a time like this, she would try and isolate herself, to regroup and get her power back. Her room, the girls' bathroom at school… whatever she could get to. On that day, the only even remotely familiar ground she had to rely on was a ship shaped like a blue police box that was bigger on the inside. She looked to the key in her hand, finding it almost too ordinary, considering just what it would open, and she started back for the TARDIS.

She closed the door behind herself, and she could just feel her heart drumming in her chest. What was she supposed to do? She was way out of her league. They didn't have any idea what was going on, not really. They had gone from an inkling, to a blinding wakeup call with the redheaded woman, and then the… old child, Dex, and his warning, but they still didn't know the whole story. That was what they were supposed to find out, both of them, just… not together. He was out there, and all she could hope for was that he would be alright. He was counting on her to do something. She just needed a moment.

She knew she needed to get her thoughts in order, put some of them aside, if she had any expectations to get through this. Yes, she wanted to get home, wanted it more than anything. The Doctor knew that, too, and she trusted him to be leading her in the right direction. Thinking of getting home wasn't a bad thing to hang on to, so long as she didn't let it take her over. They could make her strong. After so many ups and downs and ups and lower downs, she was in a good place. Maybe there had been a time where she didn't know that she wanted to be there anymore, but now she did… And here she was, trying to get back to them. She could do it.

Looking around that control room, it was hard to see whether she'd find anything that might be helpful there. She didn't know the place, didn't know what this button or that one did… what if she ended up flinging herself right in the path of a stomping dinosaur? Either way, this was the past, on Earth, and looking too 'out of time' could be bad, as she'd seen with her pink dress earlier. Even now, just standing there in her new outfit, she clashed with the rest of it a bit. If he had clothes that would fit just about anyone at any 'time,' then he could have objects, too, but then… what would help her with this?

For the moment she put that idea on the side. If she needed something, she could come back. Right now the one thing to worry about was the key and not losing it. She checked the pocket for holes, made sure she had closed it and that she wouldn't jostle it out by accident. This was no house key, losing it would have been catastrophe.

She stepped back outside, shutting the door and making sure it stayed that way. After taking a deep breath, she had made up her mind. The best way for her to get anywhere would be to find an in, an ally. Immediately the choice was clear: Violet. If she wanted information and access, she had to be allowed just about anywhere. She could spin some sort of story and get hired into the circus somehow, that could work, couldn't it? Now she had a plan, she could work with that. So, once more, she walked through the forest on her own back toward the camp.

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	8. Us Freaks Have to Stick Together

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 16._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**8. Us Freaks Have to Stick Together**

After his 'intake' with Magnus, the Doctor was led back out of this tent, only to be led to another. Even just approaching it, he could tell this was no ordinary tent. This would be where they kept the others, he knew, and he just had to hope Dex would know not to betray the fact that he knew him. But then all they had done once they got there was to open the entrance and point him inside. He hadn't given them reason to look at him much longer, simply walking in.

He entered to find four faces turning up toward him, two he knew, two who were strangers. "I told you to get out of here," Dex looked disappointed, like he had tried and failed to save his old friend.

"I did get out… then I came back," he explained. The woman stood, still peering at him from her closed eyes with silent understanding of some part of him. He gave her a small nod.

"He is one of us?" the red man asked Dex and the Doctor looked to him. There was something vacant in his eyes, in the way he stood…

"And who are you?" he asked him. At the question, the man shrank back.

"He doesn't know," the last one came up. "Lost his memories when his ship crashed," he explained. "Doesn't even know his name. Here they call him the Red Bandit."

"Clever," the Doctor frowned. "And you are?"

"Meran," the man nodded. "I take it you know Dex?"

"Oh, from a long time ago," he confirmed, his eyes turning toward the mute woman. "And we met earlier this morning." She walked up to him, as light on her feet as ever. She reached up to touch at his temple, where he'd been struck. "Oh, that's nothing," he insisted. "They're not too trusting of strangers, are they?" She took a step back.

"Not our kind of stranger," Dex pointed out. "This is Annidae," he introduced.

"Hello," he bowed his head to her.

"This is the Doctor. You can trust him," Dex told Red and Meran.

"How is it that you all ended up here?" the Doctor asked. Red shrunk back again – they knew how he had gotten there.

"The man came, caught me by surprise. I'm small, it happens," Dex shrugged, then frowned. "By the time I could react, it was too late, and we were here." The Doctor felt a chill of recognition at that. He pointed to his wrist, and Dex nodded. "Bloody time agent."

"He's here, isn't he?" he looked to all of them.

"Sometimes, yes," Meran confirmed. "Always when he comes, our numbers grow by one." He paused. "Brought me here…" his face shifted, as though he struggled with the memory, and he didn't elaborate on it further than that, so the Doctor left him alone, instead turning to Annidae. Her face betrayed nothing, but she reached and pressed her hand to his chest.

In an instant he was somewhere else, and it felt as though he was sitting behind her eyes, looking out. He was… she was… on the ground, backing away as fast as she could scoot back, looking up as the man gained on her. He could hear her begging to be left alone, calling for help, but then… He could see him looming over her, reaching out, and more importantly he saw the strap on his wrist. This was him, the time agent, and he was willing to bet this was the same man who had inadvertently plucked Quinn Fabray out of her time and brought her here. Annidae had just given him his face.

Just as sudden as it had started, now he was back in the tent with the others, as she pulled her hand away. He looked at her, with that quiet strength of hers… He couldn't imagine this woman getting herself caught, which begged to question… "How long has it been?" he asked, apologetic. She couldn't answer, or wouldn't, as he suspected, and she took a few paces back.

"She's been here longer than all of us," Dex provided.

"You said six," the Doctor looked to him. "Where are the others?"

"On the other side of camp," Red answered. "We don't talk. They won't let us."

"The other girl, we don't know much about her. It's not that they won't let us talk to her, it's that they won't let her talk to us. She doesn't have the right story of it," Meran shook his head like the anger was right there wanting to come out, but he couldn't let it.

"She doesn't know she's a prisoner," Dex cut to the chase.

"And the other?" the Doctor asked, understanding Meran's anger some more, and why Dex had wanted him to get away.

"They call him Roar. We don't know what his real name is, we can't understand him," Meran revealed.

"I might be able to remedy that," the Doctor told himself.

"They make them fight," Dex explained. "Or they spook him and then make her subdue him. They call her a lion tamer… What's a lion?" Before the Doctor could explain, in walked Nicholas.

"You can come out, now," he announced, briefly surprised by the Doctor's presence. He went to Annidae, offering his arm as always, to guide her way.

"They'll let us walk about during the day, so long as we behave, don't wander off. Then earlier we were all brought back to our tent and told to stay put. Guess we know why," Dex stared up at the Doctor like he had a feeling he'd let himself get caught.

They left the tent, Dex, Meran, and Red trailing about him. "How did you end up here?" Meran asked. "You look like them, how did they know?"

"I told them," the Doctor replied.

"Why?" Red asked, baffled. Of all of them, save maybe the one they called Roar, he would be the one who had the most trouble blending in, with his red skin.

"Seemed like the thing to do."

"Well you'll be alright here with us, so long as you don't cause trouble," Meran promised. "It's not so bad when you do," he gave a weak shrug.

"That might be a problem," the Doctor muttered to himself. "So tell me, what is there to know? For instance, who is the woman with the big stick?" he pointed to his head, where he'd been hit.

"That'll be Toni," Red flinched at the thought. "Steer clear of her."

"And the other two?"

"Peter and Bennett," Dex provided. "They're okay when they're alone, but they'll do what is asked of them when it's asked of them. They stopped, hearing a howl in the distance. "That'll be Roar." The Doctor listened, his face unable to hide a sort of sadness.

"He doesn't sound happy to be here… I can sympathize."

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	9. When You Have No Place Else

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 18._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**9. When You Have No Place Else  
**

She needed to get to Violet before anyone else saw her. If she was 'brought in' by anyone else, they might throw her out, keep her away, lock her up, or… Either way, if she was to help the Doctor, after what he had sacrificed himself to, then she knew this was the way. She stopped when she could see the camp, looked around, then hurried in when she saw the path was clear. She kept her eyes open, scanned her way around… What if she couldn't find her?

She saw her coming out of a tent, carrying a large box of what looked to be costumes or props. What was she supposed to do now? Make like she was looking for her, or like she was just wandering about and happened to find her, or… Lost, she definitely needed to appear lost, in one sense of the word or another. So, one arm holding close to the other, she shuffled along, looking around her like she wasn't sure where she was going, until she would be in Violet's line of sight. In the periphery, knowing the girl had seen her, she turned her head, making like she was just seeing her now. She paused, like she might be considering how to get out of there, and thankfully the other girl came up toward her.

"Hey, wait…" Quinn looked back to her, still 'cautious.' "You were here last night," she stated, putting her box down. Quinn hesitated, then gave a nod. She must have given the proper amount of frightened eyes; she could see some amount of trust in the girl's eyes she hadn't seen the night before. "It's alright," Violet promised, kindly. She looked around. "That guy you were with…"

"H-he was just going to take me through, but it's just me now," she explained.

"What happened to your other dress?" Violet observed her. Quinn didn't know how to answer that, so she lowered her head. "Sorry, I ask a lot of questions, it's just what I do," she explained.

"It's okay," Quinn responded shyly… so far so good. "Do you work here?"

"Work, live," Violet confirmed. "Me and my brother, you met him last night."

"I remember," Quinn nodded, not asking the question but asking it at the same time. There was a flicker of sadness in her eyes, just barely.

"It's just us."

"What happened?" Quinn decided to ask, since she'd brought it up.

"Not much to tell," Violet picked up the box again, indicating for Quinn to follow. "Our mother died when Nicholas was two and I was six. "Our father did the best he could," she promised. "But he couldn't support us, and he sent us to work for this family. It wasn't… It was bad, so I took Nicholas and we left."

"What about your father?" Violet paused.

"Last year I heard he died…" she stated simply; she had made her peace with it. "We found this place, and they took us in, so… That's that." Quinn didn't say a word, feeling bad for the girl now. At the same time, she was starting to see the story like a warning. It painted the portrait of a girl who had been looking out for her family, which to her counted all of one person: her little brother. She had made the tough decisions, for him, had protected him, always. This was where she stood, where she would always stand. Now she wasn't sure if Violet really had started trusting her or not. But she had offered her story, now the courtesy might have been that she expected hearing Quinn's in return. She had sort of worked it out in her head as she walked back to the camp.

"That's nice… I wish I had that," she started, and when Violet looked to her, she shrank back briefly, taking careful steps through her story. "I ended up on my own too, except... I didn't have anyone else. Things at home were…" she bowed her head, letting silence carry everything it had to. She preferred Violet making her own conclusions than having to make the lie get bigger, too big, and uncontrollable. Everything she was seeing and hearing from Violet was just a bit confusing. From what she knew from the Doctor, maybe it was just… she knew something, something big, about this place… Now she definitely needed to get her to trust her. "Is it okay, here?" she asked, with some hope. What the question might have implied – that maybe she could stay here, too, like they did – wasn't lost on Violet. She straightened up.

"It depends on the person," Violet told her. "Not everyone does well."

"I... I could try..." Quinn tempted. Violet looked at her, wrestling against her own doubts about letting her in to this place, the secret it held. As far as she knew, the strange blonde girl had no concept of aliens or anything of the sort, and she could get scared away, cause trouble. She would have liked to tell her what she did know, but she couldn't, not now, not while the Doctor was out there, and she still had to find the man who had brought her here... "Please..." she resorted to begging, and it seemed to open a crack in Violet's defenses, small enough to get through, but shaky enough that it could snap shot at any breach of trust. She thought for a moment, remembered something and looked to the newcomer.

"Look... What's your name?" she asked. She could have given a fake one, but she hadn't spoken of it with the Doctor, and she was in the past anyway, although...

"Lucy."

"I might be able to get you hired on here, but you need to understand something. You can't go wandering around where you're not allowed to. You need to follow the rules put on to you. And you need to know that we don't talk to the public about what goes on here, yes?"

"Yes, sure, absolutely," Quinn nodded to every demand given to her. Violet still looked hesitant, like she was about to betray her, about to put her in harm's way, as much as she had wanted to turn her away.

"Okay, come on, I'll need to take you to see Dorothy."

"Who's that?"

"She's the ringmaster's wife." Quinn gave a curious look. "She's alright," Violet shrugged. "Magnus may be the head of the show in the big tent, but Dorothy will be the one to throw you out if you make problems."

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	10. Where the Wild Things Are

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 20._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**10. Where the Wild Things Are**

They would have said not to go and wander off, that what he was about to do would only get them all in trouble. That was probably why he hadn't brought them with him.

He had taken effort in not being seen as he went through the camp. It wouldn't be too hard to tell which tent held the two he had yet to meet. That they were guarded, that was one clue, but even then all he had to do was to look at the others, the humans, those who worked there and knew the secret of their performers, to one degree or another. They didn't make it so obvious, but he could see it: they were afraid, or weary of what was in those tents. He reached the first one and, finding a point to enter unseen, he went in, getting down on all fours and ducking under the fabric.

He was still only halfway in that he was caught by the shoulders and yanked the rest of the way. "Hold on, hold on!" he tried to speak until he was flipped on his back and then she had him pinned, arm across his throat. "Peace!" he croaked. Her face appeared swimming overhead, a pale face in a curtain of dark hair, but it was her eyes… He imagined if she had been transported to a time closer to where his present companion originated, they might have thought they were contacts and left her alone. Either way, he quickly got the impression she was not the one to cross.

"How dare you enter here without my permission?" her voice was as hard as her eyes.

"I'm sorry, was that not the door?" his voice was barely that, with his air so constricted.

Something changed in her face as she was observing him. All of a sudden it was as though she had realized something, and now she needed to make sure. She prodded at his face, inspected his clothes… He couldn't even react at first, so taken by surprise, but then she was in his coat pocket and he got his senses back.

"Wait, now…" he started, but then her hand had found the sonic screwdriver in his pocket, pulled it out, and his hand was barely fast enough to close around it as well. They remained there for a moment, him on his back, her straddling him, and both of them holding the screwdriver between them. She looked at it, looked to him, and now she had her answer… he wasn't from around here. Only there was nothing about him physically, as far as she could tell, that identified him as from one world or another, which left her to wonder if maybe…

"A new recruiter?" she asked slowly.

"Recruited, I'm afraid," he continued. "Please, if you would just," he tried to free himself from her, and after observing him a moment more, she'd gotten up, snagging the screwdriver from him. "If I can just…" he started, sitting up and pointing to the screwdriver, prompting her to point it to him. He raised his hands. "It's alright, you hold on to it," he didn't break eye contact while he stood. "I…" he started, then couldn't help himself, "Now don't hold it like that, it's not a…" She turned it and he paused again.

"You're new," she stated. "Else you wouldn't still have this."

"Deep pockets," he shrugged. She looked down at it, as though trying to understand how it worked. "I'm the Doctor. What's your name?" She stood taller.

"Back home, I would be announced with half a dozen names, titles and attributes I earned solely by the station of my birth. But I believe one should earn their titles, so until I do… I am Tamrin."

He had never met her, but hearing the name he knew exactly who she was. He didn't know what made him do it, but instantly he fell back to his knees before her.

"Now I will have none of that," she stepped up to him, and after a moment he saw she was holding the sonic screwdriver back out to him. He took it, looking up at her. "Stand up," she told him, and so he did, putting the screwdriver back in his pocket, deep, deep in his pocket. "Where are you from, Doctor?"

"Here, there," he shrugged, still slightly amazed that she was standing before him, and for a moment he forgot what he was doing there, but then it came to him. "Are you alright?"

"Aside from the intrusion, yes," she threw him a look and he mouthed a 'sorry,' but she had already moved past him, drawn by the sound of howling. "Won't he be quiet?" she looked unnerved, riled up. The sound of the call only made her want to get out there and make him stop, but then she couldn't.

"I'll see what I can do," the Doctor took this as his chance to exit, which he did, going back the way he'd come. He sprang back to his feet outside, dusting himself off and looking around – no witnesses. "Perfect…" he told himself before making his way toward the second tent. They stayed away from that one even more than the first. It wasn't hard to know it was the right one, now that he had been made to pick up on the howling.

Sneaking into that one, he chose the same method as before, hoping more than anything that he wasn't about to get pulled in again. But he wasn't, wouldn't. Tamrin's tent had shown rudimentary furnishings, but still looked like more of a home than the other four had all together on the other side of the camp. This one though was just a tent, with a cage in the middle, and in the cage, the source of the howling. He was sitting there, cross-legged, despondent, as he released his mournful call. The Doctor approached him with caution but also compassion.

"Hello…" he started, and the howling stopped, the beastly man skittering back in his cage. "No, it's alright, I won't hurt you," he crouched, showing his hands, empty. "Friend," he declared himself. "You can understand me, yes?" The man calmed, slowly, approached a little. "Yes, alright." The more he came into the light, the more the Doctor could recognize where he might be from, and he could understand why the others couldn't comprehend him. Lucky for him, he might be able to assist there. "What's your name?" he asked. To others, it might have sounded like nothing more than growls, but the Doctor was not 'others.' "Anro," he nodded, and the man came even closer. "Yes, alright, good," he smiled. "Haven't gotten to speak to anyone in some time, have you?"

For some time, the Doctor remained there, listening to Anro, hearing his tale. He was told of how he had been caught by the Time Agent, brought here, and then about 'Belle Whip,' how they would provoke him, force him to go out there and be tamed by her. He also said he knew that she was being misled, that he'd tried to tell her, but that she couldn't understand him. Night after night where they would be thrown into that ring, they'd have to do as told, or they could get in trouble. So until they could talk, all he had…

"What are you doing in here?" the voice interrupted them, and the Doctor looked up while Anro shrank back into the shadows of his cage. It was them, the three guards, the two men and the woman who had hit him. "Time to put you in your place, freak."

"Toni, Magnus wants him in the next show," one of the men held her back. She pulled her arm away, looked back to the Doctor. "Just a small lesson."

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	11. You Have Your Secrets, I've Got Mine

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Mystery Takeover, chapter 2._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**11. You Have Your Secrets, I've Got Mine**

Following Violet toward Magnus and Dorothy's tent, she just felt like her stomach was twisted tighter and tighter with every step. She hadn't even met the woman yet, for all she knew she'd have nothing to worry about, it would just be routine and then she could get on with whatever she'd have to do to find her way home, but then what if she messed it up? She could get thrown out, end up unable to re-enter, and then how would she help him? Before they could get up there to enter, she'd gone and caught up Violet by the arm, stopped her.

"H-how much do I have to tell her? I mean about… about me, and where I came from?" she asked, showing the concern of someone who didn't like to talk about herself.

"Everything will be okay, I promise," Violet shook her head. "Ready?" Quinn looked to the tent, looked to Violet, then finally nodded. "Okay, come on," she started, then paused, lifting her finger and then pointing it at her. "Don't ask about her arm."

"A… Right, got it," she nodded. They went up to the tent, and Violet led her in. This wasn't the most luxurious of places, but compared to everything else she'd seen here, this was as good as it got. There didn't seem to be anyone there.

"Hello? Dorothy? Magnus?" She appeared from a parted side, and Quinn observed her. She looked normal, as far as she could tell. Her clothes looked to be old but still in remarkable condition, like a lot of care had been put into them. She could only see the tip of her shoes from under her skirts. Of her hair, there was a lot of it, she could tell, because the braid tacked to her head just coiled so far that she still had the end of it dangling like raven feathers over her shoulder. And the arm, the infamous arm… She didn't know what she'd expected. All she saw was that it was wrapped from inside the sleeve of her dress down to her hand, while the other was bare. Maybe she had scars, it couldn't be said. But Violet said not to ask, so she wouldn't ask.

"Violet, yes?" she asked, then noticing the blonde, "Who do we have here?"

"This is Lucy," Violet introduced. "She needs a place to stay, and she'd be willing to work for it, I was wondering if maybe you might be able to take her on, like you took me and Nicholas on."

"Has life mistreated you, dear?" Dorothy asked in a silky pitying voice.

"Y-yes, ma'am," Quinn bowed her head.

"Please, call me Dorothy," she came up, offering her good hand to the blonde. Quinn took it, and right in that moment was the first time she doubted the woman. There was something in her grip. She would recall her father going long and hard about what a person's handshake said about a person. It was one of those good things he had managed to teach her, before completely breaking her heart. Either way, when she'd shaken Dorothy's hand, something about it had felt off. She couldn't put her finger on it just yet, but it cranked up her alertness even higher than it already was. She looked her in the eye, found her doing the same.

She was convinced now, Magnus' wife could peg her as a liar in that moment, just as much as Quinn could say the same of her. But the thing that made her even more concerned was… she did nothing about it. If someone caught you in a lie, or even just doubted your honesty, you might expect them to call you on it, end the charade. But Dorothy didn't, and it could have been that she was just compassionate, or that she didn't fret over details, but Quinn didn't think that was it. No, it was much deeper than that, and Quinn made a mental note to try and stay out of her hair.

"Well," Dorothy gave a smile with a pointed toward her, "I'm sure we can find a place for you, dear. Has Violet told you much of what we do here?"

"It's… a circus," she stated.

"Yes, it is," Dorothy confirmed. "And we have some very special people performing for us. We shelter them, look after them, and we wouldn't want other people to try and harm them or take them away. So if you should find yourself meeting people who ask too many questions, or might look like they would do these things, then you just let someone know and we'll handle it. You might find our performers strange at first, but you needn't be frightened, you're perfectly safe. Violet will show you where you can and can't go, there are places we keep private to keep you safe like that, alright?"

"Yes," Quinn nodded, thinking to herself this was too easy and her previous assessment was right: something was wrong, and she had something to do with it.

"Now run along, get settled in, and then… Can you cook?"

X

Violet had led Lucy to her tent, the one she and her brother slept in, showed her where she could sleep that night, and then she had taken her to go help with the lunch they would soon serve. For her part, Violet had tasks still to handle, as she'd been pulled aside to help this new girl. She still wasn't sure where to stand with her, if she was honest, but some people might say she had trust issues. It wasn't like she hadn't earned those, with everything that had happened to her family in recent years, but maybe they were right and she needed to tone it down a bit.

"Violet!" She turned when she saw Peter waving her over, walked over.

"Yes?"

"Just to warn you, we have a new intake." Her skin prickled.

"A new… performer," she used the word they all did, most of them anyway. It wasn't like they couldn't figure some things out after a while, and yet not one of them would use the word that came to their minds.

"Yeah, and he's already gone and gotten himself in trouble, went sneaking in Roar's tent. Toni was angling to wipe him out but calmed her down. He's still going to need some looking after, can you bring some supplies to get him cleaned up again?"

"S-sure, alright," she nodded and ran off to get the supplies. Once upon a time her opinion of these performers of theirs had been different. Now they had started to change, for a number of reasons, and as she rushed back to bring what she had gathered, she wasn't sure whether to be distrusting, knowing he'd been sneaking about, but then if he was new they couldn't really hold it against him, could they.

"Stop right there," the guard at the front of the performers' tent stopped her.

"Peter asked me to bring these," she showed the box. The guard took it from her.

"I'll give it to them, they can handle him." She hesitated, but there was nothing else for her to do. She started to walk away, but then she could hear them behind her, so she'd looked and she'd seen him, being carried by Peter and Bennett. It took her a moment to recognize him, but when she did, she froze.

It was him, the man who'd been there with Lucy the night before. He had been sneaking around then, she knew it, and now he was sneaking around, too. She hadn't warned anyone, only she and Nicholas knew he'd been there before… She'd been there before, too… Lucy… Was she working with him? What were they trying to do here, they… Nicholas… He would be in the kitchens area at this time – with her. She had to get him away from the blonde.

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	12. No Other Home But Each Other

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Mystery Takeover, chapter 4._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**12. No Other Home But Each Other**

At one point he had just decided the best way to expedite this situation would be to play as though he had fallen unconscious. It took a minute or so but finally they had clued in and they had stopped. Anro had been growling at them to stop the whole time, so it was just as well that they couldn't understand him or else they might have started on him, too. But then they were done, so they picked him up to take him back to his tent, from what he gathered. He just remained dead weight to them. Then the wind on his face told him they were outside, and he could course out their route before they reached the tent and he was brought in. If the others were there, and he had a feeling they were, they may have been well conditioned not to say a word. He was dropped right there on the ground, and it was only once Peter and Bennett had left that the four of them had come to his aid.

"What have you done?" Meran frowned as both Annidae and Dex knelt at his side. Red just stood by, unable to make himself get too close, only whining and fretting. They all froze again when their guard came in, dropped a box, and then left.

"Get him on the bed," Dex told Meran, prompting the Doctor to drop his unconscious act.

"No, it's alright," his voice was strained. He coughed, trying to sit up, but Annidae made him stay down. "Yes, I think that might be best," he rested back down as the woman propped his head up in her lap. "Good, thank you," he waved his arm blindly about, which turned out to be a bad idea, going by the outcry.

"I tell you to leave, and you come back," Dex stared down at him. "I tell you not to go wandering about, and you… What exactly did you do?"

"I introduced myself to the non-locals," he replied.

"Stupid," Dex smacked him, and the Doctor cried out. "Careless," he smacked again, the Doctor cried again. "Time Lord!" he raised his arm.

"Don't!" the Doctor pointed at him.

"You deserved it."

"Consider me warned. Now, answer me this," he asked, as Dex went to get the box dropped off by the guard and started rummaging through it. "What are you all doing here?" They looked to him, wordless. "Why don't you just leave?"

"And go where?" Red spoke up.

"It's not that simple," Meran followed.

"This time's methods of restraint would hardly be a problem to you…"

"What do you think would happen to us when we'd go out there?" Dex asked. "Looking the way we look, not knowing this world…"

"So you are willing to endure years in captivity like this?"

"It's not as bad as it looks," Meran insisted. The Doctor turned his eyes to the silent woman.

"For some of you maybe." She said nothing, as she would, only taking the things from Dex to carefully tend to his injuries. "I spoke with Tamrin and Anro…"

"Who are they?" Red asked.

"They… Belle Whip and Roar," he provided the names they were more familiar with.

"You spoke with Roar?" Dex was shocked.

"His name is Anro, and yes."

"So that's where they caught you. We could hear him going mad from over here." After a moment, he shook his head. "Look at me. If you didn't know who I was and where I came from, what would you see?" he asked.

"A child."

"But I am no child, and I will not live a child's life, especially one on his own. Red is red, R… Anro is a beast of a man, Tamrin, Annidae, even Meran, none of them could enter this world and live a life that is free. So tell me, Time Lord, what is so bad about staying here?"

"You were never meant to be here," the Doctor insisted. "But I suppose that is why you were chosen. You were never flight risks, by virtue of the way you look compared to everyone here. Others have been doing it just fine, but they've conditioned you, made you believe, actually believe, that this was your only choice. They've made you sheep."

"I am not above hitting you, old friend," Dex warned him. Annidae looked to him, and he frowned. "I won't," he promised. Annidae gave him a nod, then looked to Meran. She never had to say a word, and still they knew what she tried to convey.

"It was not me he meant to take when he came to my world," was all Meran would say.

"Sorry," the Doctor told him, and he simply nodded. He hesitated for a moment, confiding what he was about to. As much as he felt it was in him to help these people, he had also vowed to look after the blonde presently roaming the grounds on her own. "This man, the one who brought you here, the Time Agent," he started, eliciting reactions all around, ranging from fear to rage. "He brought someone else here, a girl, a human, from what I understand, by accident."

"She'll be alright, she's human, she can make a life here," Dex shrugged.

"Perhaps. But she is from a time just nearly one hundred years ahead of here, and I promised her I would help her get back there. In order to do that, I need to find the man who got her here. You may all be willing to accept the fate which has befallen you, but she isn't, and neither am I." Annidae rested her hands on either of his shoulders, and the Doctor looked up to her. She nodded – she would help. "Thank you," he nodded. She looked back to the other three, almost daring them to say no.

"Fine," Dex shook his head. "Alright."

"If he is here now, if he hasn't gone away again, then we might have a chance to get eyes on him," Meran provided.

"Excellent," the Doctor tried to get up again, and it was still a mistake.

"Take it easy, Time Lord," Dex smirked. "You need to rest now. Anni, stay with him, the rest of us will go looking for the man," he stood, frowning at the cowering Red. "Oh, come on, will you," he grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the tent, Meran following. This left the Doctor alone with Annidae to care for his injuries.

"I know you can speak," he spoke after a minute. She paid no mind. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. A moment passed and when she put a hand to his head again, he could see behind her eyes like before. This time, all she presented was an image of the boy, Violet's brother Nicholas. She let go, and he looked to her. "I'll keep him safe, both of them. Trust me."

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	13. You Think You Know, You Don't

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Mystery Takeover, chapter 6._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**13. You Think You Know, You Don't**

When he was a young boy, Walter Mason already had a flare for the dramatic and the fantastic. He saw the potential for something magnificent in himself, in anyone or anything, if they only got the chance. He was ten years old when he decided, one way or the other, that he belonged with the circus. His family was never so appreciative of his ideas though, and when he'd had enough, he had left. He was fifteen at the time, and within a year he had been hired on to look over the horses at a travelling circus. Through the years, he had worked his way up, until one day, the circus had belonged to him. The first day he had walked to the center of that ring was the first day he would be known, not as Walter Mason, but as the great Magnus.

The rise to the top had been a lonely one though, that was, until the day when Dorothy had come into his life. She had been there at the circus already for a number of years, he had hired her on himself, but it wasn't until later that he had gone and become smitten with her. Even then, he had never been good with women, he was… awkward. But awkward worked on her, evidently, because here they were, married, in love… What more could they ask for?

Sometimes he could feel her distant though, distant or distracted, he couldn't explain it. When that would happen, he would try and be more attentive to her, and she would come back to him. Now he was hoping for that come back, because she was in one of those distracted moods again.

"Thank you, thank you," he nodded to the men and women of the kitchen as he left with the special surprise he had them put together for him. He weaved through the grounds until he reached his and his wife's tent. "Dorothy, sweetheart? I've got something for… you." She wasn't there. She had been a moment ago, before he'd gone to get her surprise…

"Yes, dear?" He was startled, looking to the side and finding her there. With the way she had just appeared, he wondered if she had been lying down.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, putting the tray down on the table and moving to her, reaching to cup her face in his hands.

"Yes," she gave him a smile. "You worry too much," she promised.

"I can't help it," he shook his head, then smiled back to her. "I've brought you something," his hand moved down to catch hers and present her with the tray.

"Walt…" she breathed, leaning her head to his shoulder. "Have I been bad again?" she asked innocently.

"You could never be," he promised. He let her sit, begin to eat.

"I heard your new performer got himself into some trouble," she looked up to him and he bowed his head.

"He's new," Magnus shrugged. "He'll adjust."

"You always see the best in people," she shook her head, and he could not deny that. "It's part of why I fell in love with you," she smiled, and it lifted him. "Although this one, he's not like the others. He looks kind of… normal, doesn't he?"

"You know I can't discuss these things with you," he shook his head, and she frowned.

"As you will remind me every time. I only ask because I need to know that I will be safe. You bring these freaks in here to…"

"You shouldn't call them that, Dory."

"I'm sorry… Performers, is that better? Doesn't change what they are. The things they can do, the way they look… How does a human being even…"

"We're not in the sciences. But we bring the wonder, and we give them a home. They cannot help what they are, instead of shunning them, then let's give them a place, a purpose. That's always been us, Dory, and you know it."

"As you tell me every time. I know, again, I'm sorry. Thank you for this. I promise things will get better." He moved up to her side, kissing the top of her head.

"I have to go help around the camp. I'll come back before the show." She nodded and he left the tent. She took one more bite and then another, breathing, humming, counting… Finally she got up, moving back to the flap which kept their 'bedroom' separated, and there he still was, sitting like he owned the place.

"I don't know how you pulled this one, Carter," she frowned at him.

"What did I do this time, Dory?" he turned that damn smile up at her.

"Don't call me that," she kicked at his leg.

"Why, he does," Carter nodded off, meaning Magnus.

"He's my husband," she reminded him.

"And what am I?" he raised his arms.

"You are a nuisance, and I don't know why I put up with you."

"Because this whole enterprise of yours, bringing alien life forms to this dreadful little place, would not be all that profitable without this," he pointed to the strap on his wrist. "And because mother would hate to see us fight," he carried on. Now she glared.

"Get up," she commanded him, and he did, maybe a bit too fast, as he came right up to her and grabbed on to her arm, the one permanently wrapped and covered. She couldn't just pull away, and he knew it, but she wanted to.

"Tell me, does he ever wonder what's under there? When he touches it, does it feel odd? Or do you even let him touch it?" She tugged, but he wouldn't let go. "Dorothy Mason, that's what they call you now, yes? Not Dorothy Wellesley, future girl," he intoned.

"Let me remind you of something, little brother," she gave a sharp pull and while Carter still had the arm in his grasp, it was disconnected from her shoulder… and still moving. As anyone might be, he was startled, enough for the disembodied hand to wrap around his wrist, over the strap, the vortex manipulator. He could try and pry it away, but he knew just as well as she did that he could never be strong enough to do so. Just to unnerve him even more, she very coolly came up, realigning her shoulder, and a moment later they heard the snap of her arm reattaching itself. "Just because you do all the leg work, doesn't mean you can forget who of the two of us is in charge. Now tell me how you got him here."

"How I got who here?" he still had no idea what she was going on about.

"The Time Lord!" she was running out of patience. He blinked.

"Ti… What? I didn't… I swear on our name, I had nothing to do with that. Besides, they don't exist."

"Well this one's real," she insisted, then paused, observing him. She knew when her brother was lying, and looking at him she couldn't see it now. He wasn't lying, he really had no idea. She sighed, releasing his arm, and he rubbed at his wrist. "Go. Not too far, stick around."

"Am I bringing you back another?"

"No, not right now," she frowned. He straightened up his coat, and then he disappeared. Dorothy sat on her bed, holding to her wrapped arm, taking deep breaths. That one had hurt. But she couldn't think about it now. Things were happening, things she couldn't explain, and she didn't like that. She would have to get to the bottom of it.

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	14. A HardEarned Trust To Keep

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: A Dish Best Served Cold, chapter 2._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**14. A Hard-Earned Trust To Keep**

She wasn't sure how long she would have to maintain this cover, how long she could... She had still not seen the Doctor since she had watched him get knocked out and carried into the camp, she hadn't seen the man who had taken her here since the night before... As much as she would say she was able to take care of herself, that she would be fine, she was kind of at a disadvantage. She was on her own, without any sort of ally. She had the Doctor, but she didn't have him now... She would have considered telling Violet, but what if something went wrong and...

"You're the girl from yesterday," a voice drew her attention away from the vegetables she had been set to chop for a soup, and there she found Violet's younger brother. Calling him little wouldn't have felt right. The boy was already matching her in height at fifteen.

"You're Nicholas," she remembered and he nodded. "I'm... Lucy," she had almost forgotten her alias. She wasn't sure what to say at first, so she offered him the carrot she had just finished peeling. He chuckled and took it, sitting on a crate next to her station and crunching.

"You work here?" he asked.

"As of today," she confirmed. "Your sister got me the job actually."

"She must like you then."

"Why?" Quinn asked, finding the statement odd.

"She has problems with trusting people," he explained, and she kept herself from saying 'yeah, I noticed.'

"Well she's looking out for you, isn't she? That might be why."

"I guess," he wouldn't expand on the subject, but she could tell he had plenty to say. She could kind of picture it, her being his one parental figure for so long that he could have forgotten she was his big sister and not his mother. She didn't know what it was about that which set him, but she knew there was something.

She hadn't spent much time with him, but he looked to her like a good kid... That was what he was, a kid. She knew at fifteen she wasn't that much of a kid anymore, but there was still some of that in him... A difference of the times, she guessed. Either way, he looked much more willing to trust than his sister. With Violet, one revelation could sound as though it was given in good faith when really it was a warning.

"Can I help?" he asked after a moment, and she smiled, stepping aside, handing him a knife and indicating the cabbage.

"Just be careful. Your sister will probably tear me a new one if you lose a finger."

"A new what?" he asked, nonetheless amused, and she had to pause, remembering there might be expressions they didn't know about yet.

"Never mind, just watch your fingers."

"Okay," he promised, getting to work.

"I saw you in the show last night. You were with that woman again, like earlier?" His eyes searched her now and she realized maybe he hadn't recognized earlier as the same one he had seen the day before. She did stand out more in her pink bridesmaid dress. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut on that one...

"Nicholas," Violet appeared then, and both he and Quinn looked up. "Aren't you supposed to help fix the stands?" she asked and he frowned.

"Forgot," he admitted, looking to his half-done cabbage, and then to Quinn. "Sorry, I have to go."

"It's alright," she promised, smiling.

"Bye, Lucy," he told her before heading out. Violet watched him go.

"He's a good kid," Quinn told her, and after a beat Violet faced her again.

"Yes, he is. So leave him out of this." The turn in tone had been so sudden she didn't see it coming at all.

"Sorry?"

"I don't know what you're doing, but leave my brother out of it."

"I don't..." Quinn shook her head, still not grasping.

"I saw your friend, the one who called himself 'the Doctor,'" she revealed, and Quinn tried not to react too much. "I don't know how he got in there, if he is actually a..." She stopped, letting out a breath. "I thought I had you figured out, but I guess I didn't." Quinn wanted to say something, but she had no words. Violet seemed to take that as an admission of some sort, and she nodded to herself. "Look, I won't say a word, because that might get me and Nicholas thrown out of here and we can't afford that to happen. But whatever you two are doing... Leave us out of it," Violet left it at that, sweeping out of the tent.

Quinn watched her go, bowing her head as she returned to her vegetables. Well so much for that... Once again she was alone, stuck in a place she didn't know, in a time that wasn't her own, with no way to go back where she came from, where she belonged, with the people she loved and who loved her, and...

She jumped when she felt the blade cut her, dropping the knife and looking to her hand. She winced, watching blood pearl from the side of her index finger. With nothing else to press to it, she used the long sleeve of the vest she wore over a dress. The shock had sent her heart drumming, and in that instant she was ready to give up this whole endeavor of sneaking about, and lying, poorly at that.

What was she doing, just working like she had nothing better to do. Sure, the Doctor had said he could get her back to just the moment before she had left, but in that moment that didn't sound the least bit reassuring. Maybe it made her weak, childish, but she wanted to go home. Now her finger was throbbing and she just had to get out of there. She had to find him... The Doctor, the other guy, any of those two... Maybe it was the pain talking, but right then she didn't care...

She grabbed the knife again, managing to tear the end of the sleeve off so she could wrap it around her finger. She took a few breaths, felt the clouds recede just a bit... So she had panicked a bit. It didn't change the fact that she really needed to find the Doctor, if only to touch base...

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	15. The LionHearted & the Brave

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: A Dish Best Served Cold, chapter 4._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**15. The Lion-Hearted & the Brave**

She still had no real idea of the layout of this place yet, which wouldn't prove too helpful when she was already looking for someone and didn't know where he was. But after leaving the kitchen she knew it was what she needed to do. The Doctor had just left her there, with little to no instructions, so unless he was the world's biggest jerk, he assumed she'd figure out what it was she was supposed to do, except... she'd failed him.

Being here, in all the run around, this thing and that, aliens, time and space, circus... it kind of made it easy for her to forget who it was she had left behind, who she was. Here it didn't matter that she had excellent grades, that she had been head cheerleader, that she'd had one dark patch after another and that now she was finally starting to find her place in the world, turning over a new leaf and all that. It was an adventure, come as you want to, and as much as she wanted to give in and enjoy herself, there was this drive to get back home that she couldn't let go of.

She was trying to decide where she would go, where she might find the Doctor, when she heard a mix of odd sounds. Voices, metal, wood... whimpering? She looked back to where she'd been headed, feeling like if she moved now she might not find her way again, except... What she couldn't shake was how much it reminded her of tussles in the halls at school, big guys ganging up on the weaker. The closer she got, the more the whimpering sounded more like... Animalistic...

Finally she saw them. There were about six of them from what she could see, but she barely saw them once she saw... She had to guess it was a him even though it was a great big beast and not all that human looking... Immediately it felt to her like he looked frightened, terrified, but they were not paying to anything but their efforts to either wound or provoke him... It felt more like the second, and the beast man only looked pitiful and miserable. She couldn't just stand there.

"Hey!" she shouted, running toward them. In the surprise of her call, the men had paused, giving an opening for the beast to run away, which he took... He was fast, faster than the men who took off after him. One of them hung back, instead turning on Quinn.

"You stupid girl, look what you did!"

"Look what I did?" she asked incredulously, livid. "What were YOU doing?"

"My job. And now, stupid girl, you're going to help us find him," he grabbed her arm, and she pried it away instantly.

"The name's Lucy, not 'stupid girl,' and if you call me that again, I'll show you just what 'stupid' can do." Before he could argue, she marched off the way the beast had gone to join the search. At this point, her shouting in the man's face was as big of a splash as she could make, if she wanted to be able to get to the Doctor again. At least that had felt good...

They had spread out into the woods beyond the camp, and she could hear them nearby and further away. At least she didn't worry about them finding the Doctor's blue box. Before leaving, she had pulled the lever again, the one he had let her pull before, to cloak it. When she had stepped out and found she was pulling an invisible door, it still amazed her.

After running back and forth from the Tardis to the camp enough times, she was starting to recognize certain landmarks. Just the same, she knew when she passed the invisible ship; she couldn't forget that one. Once she had passed it, she wasn't quite in unknown territory, she had been here... once, when she had first landed here. She was pretty sure her 'landing' had left a mark.

It had been nearly five minutes since she'd heard a single shout from the men who had first tormented and now sought out the beast. Wherever they were, they were nowhere near her... which was just as well.

She walked slower now, listening carefully. After a while she figured it wouldn't hurt to try and reach out... A friendly voice after so much hate.

"Hello?" she wasn't sure whether to speak, shout, or whisper... "You're safe, I won't hurt you, I swear. No... no one's around, it's just me..." She waited again, still nothing. "Are you hurt? If you can't move just give a..." She was looking around as she spoke, and on one turn she saw him, crouching there behind a tree but emerging and looking right at her.

He wasn't nearly as scary as she might have thought, when actually looking at him. She could see his eyes, they looked nothing like a dangerous animal... dangerous alien, if he was one of those... He just looked scared, though offering out a hope that this strange blonde girl was telling the truth. She took a couple careful steps.

"Do you... understand me?" she tried, tapping her chest. When he raised his hand to his own chest, she smiled. "Can you talk?" She asked and he... growled. If that was him talking, she couldn't understand. "That's okay, we can work around that," she promised. "I don't think any of them are near here, so we can... Is it okay if I come closer?" He bowed his head, so she approached. The closer she got, she saw he was holding his arm close to his body. "So you are hurt."

She came all the way up to stand by the tree, and he didn't move, so she knelt down in front of him. She reached out for his arm and he watched her, but he offered it to her. Through the hair, which felt more like fur, she could see blood. It looked more like a cut, nothing too critical. She looked to her finger, wrapped in part of her vest, sat up and tugged hard on the part where the knife had sliced through the fabric, ripping up to her elbow.

"Just keeps on giving," she tried to sound lighthearted, carefully wrapping the cloth around his arm. When she was done, she sat back and watched as he inspected his arm. "You don't want to go back there, do you." she guessed, and he looked to her. "I have... a friend, he's back at camp, I think... he's trying to help you all get out of there. He never really explained it to me, what he wants to do, but I think he..." The man reached to his throat then, not holding it but almost... pointing at it. It took her a moment but then she gasped. "The bow tie?" she repeated the motion and he pressed his hand to his chest - yes. "That's him, that's the Doctor. You saw him?" He pointed to his arm. She didn't understand. He pointed to her finger. She felt her stomach twist. "He's hurt?" He patted his chest. She breathed out. "I have to go find him, you... you should stay here. I'll tell them I couldn't find you." He took her arm - he didn't want her to go. "I'll be okay. I'll come back later, bring food... Please, I have to try and help." He watched her for a beat, but then let go. So she went back.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	16. The Ballad of Renlo the Bold

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: A Dish Best Served Cold, chapter 6._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**16. The Ballad of Renlo the Bold**

Annidae had taken good care of him, and as uncomfortable as he could still be, with not one but two encounters with Toni's wrath that day, he was at least able to sit up and then stand... shaky at first but standing. She wouldn't let him go to search with the others, insisting that he rest. As silent as she was, she could be commanding all the same. He couldn't even argue, and that was saying a lot. But it wasn't just about finding the man, there was also Quinn. He fully believed she could handle herself, but after what had been happening to him, it was hard not to be concerned for her.

"I'm going to go look for my friend," he was just telling Annidae, and before she could even give him her disapproving closed eyes, they came tumbling in... and they weren't alone. Meran, Dex, and Red were ushered in by Peter and Bennett.

"Everyone take a pole. Now!" Bennett ordered. The others began to move, while the Doctor had no idea. But then he watched them all go to a pole in the tent and sit before it, so he did the same. Then the cuffs came out.

"Oh..." he realized. The two guards went around, shackling all five of them. On Meran and Dex, strong enough to break through, extra restraints were applied. When they were gone and the tent was quiet again, the Doctor didn't even know where to start. Several attempts at starting a sentence failed to launch at his lips, so they filled him in.

"I heard them while they were rounding us up," Dex looked to him, looking like he had been swallowed up by chains. "Roar made a run for it. Now the rest of us have to pay for it..."

"Haven't you already been paying for it?" the Doctor pointed out. "Can those chains actually hold you?" Dex scoffed.

"Please..." he shook his head.

"Has anyone else ever tried to escape before?" the Doctor asked, then thinking better, "Has anyone ever succeeded?"

"No one has left," Meran shook his head.

"Well..." Red spoke up.

"If you call that leaving. I wouldn't want to leave like that," Dex told him. This piqued the Doctor's interest.

"Leave how, who's this?" They hesitated.

"It's only a story we were told, it was before we were here," Meran revealed. "There was one here, we don't know much about him. His name was Renlo, but we have called him Renlo the Bold. He was the first, they say, and he was what made this place what it was, in every sense of the word. But one day he made his break. They would have made a monster of him, but he wasn't."

"But there, you see? If he would leave, why shouldn't you..."

"They killed him, eliminated him," Red answered, and the Doctor quieted.

"I'm terribly sorry about this, and perhaps remaining here would have seemed prudent for those reasons, and for those you gave earlier. But look at yourselves. One tries to leave and everyone is treated to... bondage. You are prisoners, you've said so yourselves. To chose to live as a prisoner..."

"Careful, Time Lord," Dex frowned, which didn't look like much of a threat from his boy's face, chained up to his neck.

"I can take you, away from here. But it has to be your choice, not mine."

"If I have a choice, then I choose to stay," Meran was the first to speak after a moment of silence. The Doctor looked to him, and the thought occurred to him, if as he said, it wasn't him they intended to take, maybe this was to be his penance for whatever had happened to the other, but there was something else. He wanted to stay, and in all his years he could only think of one thing powerful enough to keep someone in this kind of situation willingly...

After Meran's stand, the others had said nothing, but they didn't have to. On Dex' face he saw the quiet determination of his old friend. The smile on his face when the Doctor had asked about the strength of the chains had told him everything he needed to know... He was amused, not just by what they thought but by the way they reacted to him. Of everyone here, the Doctor could be the only one to understand this part of what kept him here... The novelty. After living for centuries on end, it could become harder to keep yourself surprised, thriving... Being here, it provided Dex with amusement... He would tire of it eventually though, and then what would happen to him?

Then there was Red, and in his case all the Doctor could see was rampant fear. The Doctor had lost his memory before, he remembered vividly. Only he hadn't known he had lost a thing, believed he was someone else. It was easy then, he didn't know there was anything to miss until... Oh, dear Martha... But Red, he knew his memories were gone. He could have believed himself to be just like any other living being, except there was the issue that he was a vibrant red from head to toe, and no one else was. He was already lost for having no memories, so it must have been disorientating to think of leaving the one place he had some connection to anymore.

But then Annidae... Without a single word and without ever seeing past her eyelids, she presented a whole other vibe... She wanted to get out, she wanted to leave, and she would, if he offered it, but there was a catch, and he had a pretty good idea what it was. He knew though, no matter how it happened, if the others ever changed their minds, she would be leading the way.

"At least tell me if you saw anything, before you were rounded up," he asked after a while.

"We didn't see the Time Agent," Meran reported.

"What about my friend?" he looked to Dex, the only one of those three who knew what she looked like.

"Didn't see her either, but I think they've got her in the search party."

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	17. Fear Not, You Are Among Friends

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: A Dish Best Served Cold, chapter 9._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**17. Fear Not, You Are Among Friends**

When the skies had started changing color, Quinn had looked up with a certain desperation, realizing how the hours had passed. She had already been here for nearly a day. She hadn't seen the Doctor since the morning, when he had surrendered himself. The last few hours had not been the easiest. With the beast man on the loose, everyone was on high alert. In just a few hours, people would start to come along, wanting to see what the circus offered. She wasn't sure what concerned them the most, the possibility that the beast would attack someone, or the thought that their act might not get to go on.

When she had returned to camp empty handed, her part in the beast's escape was well known. Some of them would glare at her. Others didn't see her as being at fault, just the 'freak'. She'd seen Nicholas from afar and he looked like he wanted to come talk to her, but then there was Violet with him, and she led him away. She didn't blame the girl. She was acting as sister and mother to him, and she would do what she thought would keep him safe. Still, she wished she could get her to see she wasn't the bad guy in this situation.

She didn't tell anyone she knew where the beast was, that she had found him. She also didn't forget her other promise to him, that she would come back to see him. It was a good thing that everyone was distracted by the search. She had slipped into the kitchen – the one place she did know – taking some things she could hide away before she snuck back out into the woods. For a moment she was afraid she couldn't find her way again, that she might have taken a wrong turn, until her foot caught on something that wasn't there and she startled, hand reaching up and hitting… "Oh…" she chuckled to herself. Knowing she had reached the Tardis, now she could go on.

It was a twenty-something minute walk from the camp to where she had left the beast. The further she went, the more she kept checking to make sure no one was following her. If they were, there wouldn't be much place to hide, but she still had to make sure.

It was weird, being out there. While she was there, with nothing but the woods around her, she could imagine she was anywhere, at any time. She could have been back home, in Lima, in 2012, but she knew she wasn't. She was starting to realize she was settling into this place, this time. It had been a day, but she'd seen so much already and all these things had happened and…

She started humming to herself as she walked, some song or another that they had done in Glee Club a week ago, she couldn't even tell but it didn't matter. Humming reminded her of them, made her see their faces in her head and it helped, it really did. They were home, just as much as 'Lima' and '2012,' maybe more. They would get her through this… and they weren't even born yet.

"Hello? Are you here?" she called as she neared the spot where she had left the beast man. Like before, she had turned, and suddenly there he was. He had moved, though not too far. "You look better than last time I saw you," she gave him a smile as she approached. "How's your arm?" she asked, kneeling down to reveal the food she had hidden away. He bent and unbent it a few times to show that it was okay. "I wasn't sure what you might like, so I took a bit of everything I could see," she looked down to what she'd brought. It was hard to figure out what he would go for. He may have looked like an animal, but she had to remind herself he looked different because he wasn't from around here. She didn't know how long he had been trapped in that place, but he would have gotten used to whatever they fed him. This was confirmed as she watched him eat his way through all of what she'd brought. After he'd gotten over the initial hunger, he'd looked to her, then held out a piece of bread to her. "Thank you," she smiled.

She had no idea where he was from, how he had ended up here. Communication was still the biggest hurdle in their way, although so far they had managed to find their way. She had already told him about the Doctor before, and she couldn't help but want and help him. If they could get him home, too…

"I think…" she started, needing to bring up something she had thought about, not knowing how he would react to it. "You should go back." He looked to her, and she saw confusion in his eyes. "I know you don't want to be there, I know how that feels. Not saying that anything I've been through compares to this, but this might be your best option. The Doctor's over there, and he could get you home." She paused. "If they find you out here, who knows what they'll do to you? They haven't gotten you so far, but the longer you're missing, the further they'll go, and then… If you come back, I don't know what they'll do, but it won't be as bad, will it?" He was quiet again, and she couldn't decipher whether that was a good or bad thing. But then he looked to her, with those eyes of his, and he touched his hand to his chest, the gesture they had accepted as meaning 'yes.' She breathed, hoping desperately that she wasn't leading him into more danger.

She felt him take hold of her hand and she looked up. He made for her to hold to his wrist, and eventually she understood. He wanted her to be the one to take him back in, like she had been the one to find him. She shook her head, convinced that would only get him hurt worse, but he touched his other hand to his chest again. He saw this as the way to go, so maybe that was what was meant to happen.

"I… I'm sorry," she couldn't help but say. He put his hand to the top of her head for a moment, and it just brought a smile to her. He really was a sweet thing, and that only made what they put him through even worse. "I wish I knew what to call you," she admitted. He kept looking at her, so she indicated herself. "My name is Quinn," she told him. No one understood him, so she saw no point in telling him the fake name. "We have something in common, you know? Neither of us belongs here… both of us want to go home," she looked to him, guessing he wanted that for himself, too. He got back on his feet, though still in a crouched sort of shuffling stance, reached to remove the piece of her vest which she'd wrapped around his arm. "No, it's okay, you should leave it…" she told him, but he touched at the frayed end of her vest's arm and she understood. If he kept it, then they'd know she had helped him. So she reached over and undid it for him. His arm would be okay.

They made the walk back to camp, and as they passed the cloaked ship, part of her wanted to just hide him in there until she could find the Doctor and they could all get out of there, but she knew it wouldn't have been the right call, so they kept going. As they neared the camp, the beast man offered her his arm, so she could properly appear to have found him and brought him back. When they saw her, and him, they came toward them, looking ready to punish him for his flight, but Quinn stood in between.

"It's fine, he's fine, he was just scared and confused, but he's back now. He's just going to go back to his place, and everything will be okay," she insisted, and eventually they backed off, while the guards came and collected the man, carrying him back to his tent. She didn't know what they'd do, and really she didn't want to know.

Either way, something had changed in her, in meeting the man. Now it wasn't about getting home, and really she hadn't thought about that since she had found him in the woods. Getting back to her time and place was still going to be the thing she strived for in the end, but for the right then and there, she knew what her priority was. She wanted to figure out what was happening, and she wanted to stop it. She wanted to help the beast man and any others like him there at the camp to get back home, and she wanted to stop whoever was doing all this to them. He was a friend now, and she had to help him.

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	18. Not Everyone Is As They Seem

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: A Dish Best Served Cold, chapter 11._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**18. Not Everyone Is As They Seem**

They had sat there, shackled to the tent posts without relief of any kind for hours, and before long it had come that no one felt like talking. The Doctor tried, but he got nothing. It could only leave him to pity them, what they had been made to become, these once proud people...

When they saw the tent flap open, they all looked up, with varying degrees of wariness. But it wasn't a guard. They relaxed at the sight of Violet. The Doctor smiled to her, giving a small wave that jingled with his shackles, but it was silenced as he saw the weary look on her face. He couldn't figure it all too well, but she didn't look happy to see him. He wondered if this had to do with Quinn.

She went to Dex first, crouching and motioning for him to bring his hands closer to her. "Roar has returned," she revealed.

"In what condition?" Dex asked coolly.

"He's fine," she promised, undoing his shackles. The Doctor observed her as she went. If she wasn't feeling chatty with him, then seeing how she dealt with the others was going to have to be the way he got insight into who she was.

He got one telling action in the fact she released Dex first. He was not a child, and he could tell she knew this. But he looked like a child, and her instincts said to show compassion to him, especially with the extensive use of chains to counteract his strength. Further showing her priorities were clear, she released Annidae next. She offered her hand to help the woman up to her feet. She was cautious in approaching Red, and he imagined seeing a red man was part of it, for a human of her time, but really he could see she was aware of how he would fret at the nearness, so she was careful not to spook him.

She came to him next, quick and neat, unshackling, no eye contact, no words and she had moved on... She definitely did not like him. "Thank you," he still told her, rising, dusting himself off.

When he looked back to her again, he paused. She had gone on to unshackle Meran last, and to see the care she put into it and the way the man looked at her as she did this, and... The Doctor may have had his moments when certain things would fly over his head, but this wouldn't be one of them. It was plain to see Violet felt for Meran and that those feelings, if they hadn't already and if they were allowed to grow, were the kind that led to pure and complete love. Looking to Meran, he saw the very same thing aimed at the girl. The Doctor smiled.

"Are you alright?" Violet inspected the man's wrists with gentle fingers, tried to see if the other chains would have hurt him.

"Those could not put a dent in me at all," he promised her, indicating the fallen chains. She turned a smile to him, nodding before she got up to gather them and all other chains. She struggled once she had most of them, but she just shuffled along. The Doctor decided to take this as a chance to approach her.

"Need some help?" he trailed her, and without looking he would know that Meran would keep an eye on him as he followed the girl.

"I'll tell you what I told your little friend. Whatever you have planned, please leave me and my brother out of it," she told him, the softness he'd heard before now gone. She wouldn't even look at him.

"Little friend," he repeated.

"Lucy. If that's her name," she went outside and the Doctor followed. He registered the fake name, but at the same time it gave him an idea.

"Let me ask you something. What is the party line about these performers?"

"Sorry?" Violet asked.

"What do you tell the public? And just know here that I do believe you know the actual, proper truth of it."

"You mean do I know you're not from Earth," she cut to the chase. "Even if you don't look all that different to me."

"A very important lesson in life, Violet, not everything is as it seems. And people even more so. But this I think you do know, don't you?" She knew what he was getting at again.

"When I found out what the performers really were, I didn't want to believe it," she admitted. "But as much as I could try to ignore it, all I had to do was look. I couldn't bear the thought of them being near me, or near Nicholas," she shook her head and, in her silence, he inserted a 'but then.' "Maybe in some parts I still can't really accept it, but I know them now, and if anyone wants to come along and hurt them or use them..."

"Says the girl on chain collecting duty."

"I didn't say I approved of that, but what can I do?"

"Oh, Violet, so many things," he breathed and she looked to him. "I'm not here to hurt them," he promised.

"Then what are you here to do? Both of you, a human girl and a..."

"You said so yourself, I don't look like I'm from another world, do I? So what's to say that I'm the only one here who can pass for human?" he asked, and there he let her weave the conclusion herself. Her face relaxed from the scowl she had reserved for him so far.

"You're saying... Lucy is... like you?" she asked and he shushed her.

"Yes," he whispered his master lie. "But you mustn't tell anyone, understand?"

"I don't..." Violet hesitated.

"We were just passing through, her and I, when we happened here by accident. We visited your camp last night. This morning they captured me but she escaped. Now I fear she may be here trying to rescue me, when... I was the one meant to protect her," he looked sorrowful. The connection to the caregiver was not lost on her. "This is all my fault."

"It's not," she shook her head, suddenly friendly to him. "These people here, it's what they do. They can overpower even the strongest of men," she told him, and he had a feeling she meant someone specifically. "I wish I'd known about her before, I may have given her the wrong impression," she furrowed her brow.

"Well she wouldn't say it, even confronted. She is careful."

"I get that," Violet promised.

"But she is risking herself, being out here to help me," he delivered the last piece and he could see Violet was reflecting on what had been said and done.

"You should get ready, it's almost show time," she told him now, walking away. "The others will help you."

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	19. Poker Faces and Trust Issues

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: A Dish Best Served Cold, chapter 13._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**19. Poker Faces & Trust Issues**

She didn't know what would happen once they got back to the camp. She was mostly worried about what they could and would do to the beast man. There were a lot of things going on here, more than what some people realized, and she was starting to see that.

They had dragged the beast back to his tent, and she had wanted to go with him, but they held her back so she had to let him go. Their eyes met briefly and she saw the fear still holding him despite the trust he had put in her enough that he would return.

After he had been taken away, now all she wanted to do was get back to her search of the Doctor. All the signs were pointing to the fact that the evening's patrons were about to arrive, people coming to see the show and all other attractions. That could help her, giving her the cover of crowds and darkness to find the Doctor, or it could make it even more impossible, especially if they made him perform.

At the very least, since news had spread that she had brought the beast back, people were showing her much more respect, no longer treated her as being at fault. She was seeing this guy wave at her, and that girl smile at her, this other girl was nodding, and the Doctor was standing ten feet away...

She paused, taken completely by surprise. He was standing just as she was, not expecting to see her. She could see the cuts and bruises on him, and all she could think was that it was her fault, that she should have been with him.

She was just moving toward him now, taking steps not so hurriedly that she would raise any flags, even if everything in her told her to run to him. He wasn't approaching though, and she didn't understand why until he came and stepped in her path.

She remembered him from the night before, the ringmaster, Magnus. He smiled. "You're our hero, they tell me," he addressed her. She blinked, looking over his shoulder. The Doctor had disappeared. She looked back to the man.

"I wouldn't call myself..."

"Nonsense! I shudder to think what would have happened to poor Roar if not for you."

"Roar..." she repeated. She didn't have to be told whether that was his actual name or not, and somehow it only upset her more to his predicament.

"But he's back now, and everything is as it should be!" He sounded so cheerful about it, she couldn't do anything but smile. "And it's all thanks to you. My wife Dorothy and I would like to thank you. Come along, you're having dinner with us."

"Well, I..."

"I won't take no for an answer," he smiled, and she couldn't make her mind up whether he was someone she could believe in. He looked like he was, but then his wife...

"Alright, thank you." She followed him, eyes scanning in hopes of see the Doctor again, but she didn't. Instead she ended up in the tent, finding Dorothy sitting there at the table, which Nicholas was in the process of setting up, food everywhere... When the boy saw her, he paused; he knew what his sister had told her, she was sure of it. He looked conflicted, like he wanted to talk to her, but he followed his sister's word, always. She didn't intervene, she let him go.

"Well hello again, Lucy," Dorothy gave that smile of hers, the one Quinn couldn't get herself to believe no matter how hard she tried.

"Ma'am," she bowed her head.

"Please, sit," Dorothy indicated the chair across from her. Quinn did so, and her eyes went to an open tureen where she recognized the soup she has been working on earlier. Why it threw her off, she didn't know, but it did.

"I was told about your arrival among us just this morning," Magnus smiled. "And now here you are, a hero to our troupe!"

"Oh, I don't know about that," she was earnestly humbled.

"No need to be modest, young lady," Magnus told her.

"Yes, it was quite the feat," Dorothy nodded, lifting her cup, which promptly brought Quinn back on focus, reminded her she couldn't be so trusting of these people. They were the leaders here, so whatever was happening then they would know. She had inadvertently landed herself in this position where she could talk to them, so what if she could help the Doctor, getting them to talk.

"I don't understand... That man looked... He..." she started, looking for the right words. "He looked like a man, but he had... He looked like an animal..." she explained. Magnus sat up.

"You've done us a great service today, Lucy. I normally wait longer before I begin to inform our new members about the performers here. The fact is it can be a lot to take to realize there are no tricks, that what they see is real. This man you helped return, he came to us as you see him now. Not one of us knows how he came to be that way, but that is how he is, how all of them are. Some would call them freaks, but I just think they are... extraordinary," he shook his head, and he looked so convinced and so impassioned, she was having trouble remembering she wasn't sure how trustworthy this man was. He felt honest, but then Dorothy... She still felt wrong.

"But those men, they were mistreating him, he looked scared," she insisted.

"I will speak to them," Magnus conceded. Quinn looked to Dorothy, noticed her silence in all this. It was possible she simply didn't have anything to add, but Quinn didn't believe it. She sat up as they ate and Magnus went on about this thing and that, and Dorothy's silence only stretched on.

"How did you meet?" Quinn ended up asking. Dorothy looked to her, and there Quinn felt her almost like a lioness on the prowl, like she needed to know what dear Lucy was playing at. But then she would look to her husband, and her eyes would fill with love, and Quinn didn't was surprised by this turning on a dime for the woman. For the first time since the start of the meal, she spoke.

"I worked here, for a long time before Walter saw me, really saw me," she spoke, looking at the man, and Quinn had to reach her own conclusion that this was Magnus' real name. "But I always knew what a sweetheart he was," she went on, and Magnus took her hand.

"I couldn't imagine my life without her, and without this place." After a moment, he remembered the time. "Your first night here is about to begin. Wait until you see what we can really do."

TO BE CONTINUED (THURSDAY)


	20. Starting Back and Making Friends

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: No Less Of Me._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**20. Starting Back and Making Friends**

With the meal ended, her duties as a circus hand were now expected to carry on. Part of her wanted to just ditch those and get back to looking for the Doctor, but then she thought about it, and what it came down to was that, with the night's show about to start, she couldn't afford to raise any unwanted attention. So she presented herself back in the kitchen. She was informed that they had to prepare meals for the seven performers, for after the night was over. She thought about the Doctor, about breakfast brought from Paris... It seemed like so long ago now.

She was going along with her tasks, preparing copious amounts of fruit. From what she saw, the performers' meals were not nearly as elaborate as those of Magnus, Dorothy, and the rest of the circus hands, like what did the freaks care what they ate, right? She hated this place more and more the longer she had to be in it.

"Need a hand?" She looked up, surprised to find Violet there.

"I'm alright. Unless you're here to make sure I'm not planning to do something to the food..." she tried not to sound too bitter, continuing to chop.

"Okay, I deserved that, I..." she sighed, and Quinn looked to her again. "I'm sorry, I overreacted before. I have to look out for my brother, I'm the only one who will..." Quinn's face softened.

"I get that," she confided, hesitated. "I have a daughter, I... had a daughter." She didn't know what led her to even think of volunteering the information, maybe that she really wanted Violet to know she meant what she said, or maybe again because they were in the past and she didn't have to hide.

"Where is she now?" the girl approached. Quinn continued chopping.

"Gave her up for adoption. I was looking out for her, too, even if that meant letting her go, so she could have her best chance." Without word, Violet started putting the cut fruit on the plates, arranging them in a pattern rather than just heaping them on, as others were. It made Quinn smile.

Violet would say nothing of what the Doctor had told her. Still she couldn't help looking at the girl with some curiosity. The Doctor said she was not of this world, like him. She looked so human though. Was it possible that this was just how it was, that people on other worlds could look exactly like them?

She didn't want to spook her. The Doctor had said she wouldn't want to compromise herself, but that she was attempting to rescue him regardless. Violet found it so brave of her, and for that she had been forced to reevaluate her views on her. And after much consideration, she had chosen go make a new approach. Now here she was.

"So you had dinner with Magnus and Dorothy," she mentioned, and Quinn nodded.

"They told me about the performers."

"Did they," her cautious tone was not lost on Quinn. She knew more than the common circus hand here, so she had to know just what it was that she knew about. "What did they tell you?"

"I don't know, I... I was told not to tell anyone," she showed herself hesitant, just as protective of the secret.

"It's alright, Lucy, I know," Violet opened, and Quinn looked to her. It could mean getting caught in a lie later, but her gut was telling her that she should share the knowledge she held as Quinn, and not the one that had been shared with Lucy at the dinner table.

"They said that... they weren't from here, not from this planet," she kept her voice hushed. Violet, if she reacted in any way, kept it very well hidden.

"That's right."

"I didn't think that was even possible," Quinn went on whispering. "Do you think they're dangerous, can... can we trust them?" Violet's hand paused, mid-arrangement, her mind caught on memories.

It had never been told to her by Magnus, or Dorothy, or any of the other humans here, no. She had learned the truth from Meran, from the others, Dex, and Red, and Tamrin, since the other two didn't speak. She knew their real names, not those silly stage names they had given them.

"In the beginning they did scare me," she admitted. "I only saw them as monsters, I mean what was I supposed to think? I didn't spend any more time than I had to with them, and I was not going to let Nicholas near them... They put him on to help out Annidae though, so I just tried to keep my eye on them... One day I got put on to look after one of them... Meran." Her voice lingered just so, and Quinn had a pretty good idea what that meant. "He'd been injured, had to be nursed back as soon as possible so he could rejoin the show. The first few days I said nothing, and neither did he. Then he'd talk, and I'd try not to listen, but I couldn't help it... the way he spoke, the things he said... I was curious, and one day I asked a question. He looked so glad that I finally spoke to him... That was the day I found out they weren't just freaks, like everyone told me, that they were from other worlds. Even that made it hard to let my guard down, but by then I knew Meran, I trusted him, and he said they were okay, so I believe him." And just like that, she let it go, knowing that going any further would mean revealing her feelings for the man, and she didn't want that... like they couldn't see it in her face.

"The one who got away, the one they called Roar... I saw what they were doing to him though... He looked... so scared, and they didn't care."

"They try and get him in an aggressive mood before the show, so Tamrin comes in and tames him," Violet explained. "Sometimes though they start on that with him much... much too early. It's what needs to be done, that's what they say." Quinn watched her, saw the words she wanted to say but wouldn't, or couldn't, and she knew maybe all Violet needed was a like-minded ally.

"I really don't see how it needs to be done," she finished cutting the fruit. Violet turned to look at her, and Quinn could see in her eyes for the first time the youth in her, the need to hope. "So what do we do next?" she asked. Violet hesitated, and Quinn clarified, indicating the fruit. Violet needed an ally, but so did Quinn, and now maybe they had both found one.

TO BE CONTINUED (SATURDAY)


	21. Welcome to the Great Big Show

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: A Moment That Shaped You._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**21. Welcome to the Great Big Show**

They were gathered and taken to get ready for the show. This would be the first time they were all brought together in a close setting. They still kept Tamrin in her own corner, as they did with Anro, though they were far enough that they couldn't really interact. The Doctor still couldn't help but look at them, observe. Tamrin was being readied like a warrior heading into battle. Her face was strong, determined, like she was itching for a fight. Anro was restless in his cage, so he guessed the efforts to rile him up had worked. The Doctor was the only one there who could understand the growls for their meaning, and he knew the beast man they called Roar was just doing what he had to do in order to survive.

"Don't worry about them, Time Lord," Dex came up to him. "She won't kill him. She knows she's not allowed to take it that far." He looked down at his old friend and did something like a double take when he saw his costume. He had been dressed to look every bit like the young boy he appeared to be, maybe even younger, to further mislead the spectators when he would display his incredible strength. "Watch your words now," Dex glared before moving away.

The Doctor looked back to the rest of them. Red had been stripped of his shirt and shoes, given a loose pair of white pants accented in red. Meran had also lost his shirt, in his case not to show bright red skin but rather to show his muscles and all that which would inevitably identify him as 'not normal' to the people who came to see him. And there was Annidae, in the light gauzy dress they had seen her in the night before.

"Hold on..." he realized then, just as the woman came at him trying to get him undressed, yanking at his jacket. "Now, no, sorry..." he tried to get away.

"It's alright now, don't be scared, we're just going to get you ready for your act," she persisted like a kindly grandmother. "Now, what is your act?" she asked, as the Doctor managed to wriggle out of her grasp, straightening up his coat.

"No, it's alright, see?" he gestured to his clothes. "Already have my costume, don't I look dashing?" he nudged his bow tie. "Although... could go for a hat," he mumbled to himself. The woman just shrugged and walked away.

"Anni..." The Doctor turned to see Nicholas had arrived. The boy went to Annidae, as he would, her official attendant. But then right behind him came the girls. He made not to look invested in their presence, but then they came right up to him.

"Hello, Doctor, let me introduce you. This is Lucy, she'll look after you tonight. You're both new, usually they would put you with someone who's been here longer, but Lucy is... well, she's already a hero here, so... I'll let you get ready, you're on second after Annidae," Violet pointed her out, playing very well as though the Doctor and Quinn didn't know each other. Quinn looked to the girl, mouthing a 'thank you,' and Violet smiled as she went off.

"I see you two made up," he looked to the blonde.

"Yeah, you wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" Quinn guessed.

"And a hero?" he went on.

"Long story," she told him, and they paused. It was the first time they could speak, could stand within talking distance all day, and they were both relieved for it. "Are you alright?" she reached to the cut on his forehead and he cringed.

"I've seen worse."

"Maybe it's time you looked for a new hobby then," she continued inspecting the damage on him. "Seriously, you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he assured her.

"Have you found out anything, about the man who brought me here?" she had to ask, though from the look on his face she guessed her own face showed how, for the time being, it wasn't her primary concern anymore. it made him smile for a moment, but for her question he toned it down.

"I'm afraid the news isn't great so far," he told her. "He has been here," he confirmed.

"He's the one who brought the aliens here," she stated.

"And word is he could still be around, so we'll keep a look out."

"But you've never seen him," she pointed out.

"No but I know what he looks like," his eyes went to Annidae as she was led toward the entrance to the ring. The sounds of the crowd, which had been going for some time now, became hushed again, and the Doctor and Quinn knew what this meant. Everyone backstage knew as well, as they began to move away from the opening in the tent and turned away from it, shutting their eyes. The Doctor took Quinn's arm and made her do as the others were. She looked to him and he signaled for her to shut her eyes.

"You never explained that one, what does she do?" Quinn whispered.

"The light comes from her eyes," he explained, as even with their eyes closed they could feel that light wash over them. "It affects people, to look at it."

"Affects them how?"

"Last night when we left, you felt some of it, didn't you," he let her remember.

"I felt... something," she slowly recalled. "Like I just wanted to get close again."

"It pulls you in, enthralls you, lowers certain restraints," you understand.

"Hypnotized," she spoke.

"In a sense, yes. And who knows what these people here will do while she's got everyone in her trance."

"All her people are like that?" she asked, but then the activity resumed and they were forced to put a pin in the conversation.

"I believe my show is about to start," he told her with a smirk, moving toward the entrance to the ring, from which Nicholas was leading Annidae.

"Wait, you're actually going to go out there?" Quinn followed him. "What are you going to do for an act?" she asked. He reached in one pocket and another, searching, thinking. Eventually he pulled his hands back, empty.

"I'll think of something."

"Be careful, alright? You're already banged up as it is," she looked him over.

"They probably won't notice, they'll still be slightly confused from the effects of the light," he shrugged. "Stay here," he stopped her there, just as he was led out to enter the ring. "Watch me go," he gave her a smirk and she laughed.

He walked out into the low light, came to stand at the center and there the lights did increase some. The crowd was as he had assumed, still a bit spaced out, though they were coming back to their senses, none the wiser.

"Hello, everyone. I'm the Doctor," he announced, holding his arms out. There was some light applause, and he frowned. If he was going to be made to perform, then he would perform. He just wished he had found the time to consider what this act might be. If he didn't come up with something quick, he would get kicked out, and any progress they had made would be lost. "Sorry, stage fright, first time," he tried to sound lighthearted. The crowd began to boo. "Now, hold on, let me just..."

He had been turning about when something caught his eye, in the back of the pack. He made as though he hadn't seen anything, but as he reached back in his pockets, looking for something, anything to keep the spectators distracted, he took another look. And when his eyes swept by again, to make absolutely sure, even though his vision had yet to fail him, even at a glance, he saw him again. It was the face, the one he had seen when Annidae had let him take a walk through her mind's eye, her memories. That was the time agent, the one who had taken Annidae, and Dex, and Meran, Red, Tamrin and Anro... and Quinn.

"What do I have, what do I have..." The further his hand disappeared into his pockets, his whole body twisting into the effort, the more the crowd turned, the boos turning into laughter... They thought he was some sort of clown. "Works for me," he muttered to himself, digging in. "Oh, that's where that went, I thought I'd lost it back with Cleo... Never mind..."

So far the man hadn't seen him, he was fine to keep stalling. But what was he going to do? If he went after him now, he would be blowing his cover, but then if he waited he could lose him. As soon as the show was over he would get tucked away in the tent with the other four and that would be that. He had to go, now, or he would miss his chance. He had pulled her into this, the infiltration into the circus, on the promise that he would get her home. He had promised her first, he had to honor that. The moment he ran though...

The time agent had just been watching, but then... Their eyes met, for just a second, and when the Doctor looked back, he was gone, the tent flap waving in the wind... He had made a break for it, and now he had no choice.

"Terribly sorry, I've gone and left it in my other coat, excuse me." And the Doctor ran.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	22. Pawns & Those Who Don't Know

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Never Far Away._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**22. Pawns & Those Who Don't Know**

On most nights as they waited for their turn in to the ring, all of them performers would just sit back and wait until the time came for them to be put in the spotlight, just needing to get through it for one more night. But on that night, as the Doctor was sent through to begin his act, they would look back and see the blonde girl waiting in the wings. They would think of this man who had come into their lives that day, had made them reflect on the condition they were left in, living in this place, and had generally shown care and hope in ways they had not seen in so long. Little by little they had come to stand closer together to look in. Quinn looked back to find Meran, and Red, for the first time, and Dex, and Annidae, Violet and Nicholas... Even further back, Tamrin and the beast man did their best to see despite the fact that their guards wouldn't let them through.

"What's he doing?" Quinn frowned.

"It could be worse. I've seen him dance," Dex commented. "He had a different face back then..." Quinn looked down to him, confused.

"What do you mean, he had a different... Never mind," she sighed, looking back out to the ring.

"He's going to run," Meran suddenly declared.

"What? How do you..." Violet asked, standing at his side.

"His whole body is saying it," he looked around, to who was close or not.

"We need to stop him, they could kill him," Quinn could feel her heart thump with anxiety.

"How do you expect us to do that without putting ourselves in danger, too?" Dex asked.

But then the Doctor had run, and while he was not bothering to look back and see that anyone might go after him and try to stop him, the others could see that very well. Meran was the first to act, rushing through as he could see Toni, Peter, and Bennett flood in from the sides.

"Meran!" Violet gasped, and then they turned as they heard disruption from behind. The beast was thrashing against his cage, just as Tamrin was subduing her guards. She rushed through, just as the beast broke free and did the same.

"I'm about to do something really stupid," Dex shook his head before following. The others stayed back, spreading out to block the exit into the backstage area.

By the time they had begun going through, the spectators had wizened up to things being about to go haywire, and they had started running off. Now in the mass of feet blocking the exits, the four who had gone through had achieved their tasks, given him a head start, the Doctor could do whatever it was he needed to do so bad that he would take that risk. But then that left them all stuck in the middle there with the guards.

"Three of you, four of us, and more where that came from," Dex laughed.

"Say that again?" Toni laughed right back. They turned back, as more guards came from the prep tent and pushed in for Quinn, Violet, Nicholas, Annidae, and Red to join them. Even with them, they couldn't get out without taking casualties. "Two choices: sit and behave, or..."

"We'll behave," Violet spoke up, pleading with Meran, with Nicholas and with Quinn. Meran bowed his head, slowly sitting down, yielding. After that, the others followed suit.

"At least one of you knows the way," Toni circled them. The exits had been cleared now, and Toni directed the guards to go looking for the Doctor, the last of them guarding the group in the ring.

"I don't remember that many of them," Nicholas looked to his sister.

"Like they always tell us the whole truth," she looked around.

Quinn had never really felt scared since this had started, she realized it now, because in this moment it did feel like somehow she could stay trapped here, worse, that she might die and no one would know. She would have just disappeared. Her mother, her family and friends, they would look for her but they would never find her, she...

She startled at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to find the beast man crouched before her. He touched a hand to his chest, and she let out a breath. "I'm not okay," she shook her head. He took her hands in his - he was staying by her side. "Thank you," she managed a smile.

"Get away from him." They looked to find Tamrin back on her feet, a few feet away. The beast shuffled behind Quinn.

"What for?" she asked.

"I know what he's capable of." Quinn frowned, standing as well.

"Do you, really?"

"Please, no shouting," Red fretted.

"He's harmless," Quinn maintained.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Oh, wake up already!" Dex turned on her now. "They've been lying to you, using you!"

"Dex..." Meran turned to him.

"What, it's about time she learned the truth instead of being kept like some princess who doesn't see her castle is her prison." The old child stood on his feet, by no means a towering presence next to the woman, but he showed his strength in other ways. "Look around you. This isn't some pageant of honor, you're not proving anything. You've been here how long? And all you do, every night, is to come in and make him behave," he pointed to the beast. "How long before you realize that makes no sense?" They could see all of it begin to tear at her reasoning, as much as she couldn't stand it, couldn't comprehend it or wouldn't...

"I... I don't... No..." she shook her head.

"You're a prisoner here, like us," Meran went for it.

"You're smarter than this, figure it out," Dex begged. She looked to him, to them all, but then to the beast man. She began to approach him, slowly, and he hesitated, still behind Quinn. Tamrin had to silently beg with the blonde before she would step aside. Finally the beast did turn his eyes up at her, and when he did she just couldn't move. She had never given him much thought beyond what they would tell her, and somehow this look of fear in his eyes was new to her. She crouched down now, to reach eye level.

She could see cuts on him, healed into scars already, most of which she could recognize as having been inflicted by her, but others, like the one on his arm, couldn't be hers so then... She looked back to his face and she almost looked like she could cry.

"What have th... What have we done to you?" she dropped to her knees. "Please, I don't expect your forgiveness, but I want you to know how terribly sorry I am," she told him, and he blinked at her, taken aback. "I will get you back to your people if it's the last thing I do."

"Heartfelt as that is," Dex spoke up. "How do you expect that to happen?"

"I'll help her," Quinn put in her vote of confidence.

"So that's two of you, and then what? You're still outnumbered."

"Then let it be three." They looked back to find the words had been spoken by the woman with her eyes closed, the first words they had heard from her and, maybe for that, they couldn't help but listen. "But better yet, let's make it ten."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	23. You Don't Know What You Want

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: What a Difference a Year Makes._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**23. You Don't Know What You Want**

The camp was deceitful in its setup. There were plenty of corridors and hiding spots between the tents, and in his short time there, the Doctor had worked out most routes and detours... or all of them... or all of them and a few they wouldn't have thought about. Either way, he knew these routes but it could only help him up or a point. He could only presume to know where the time agent would run, and that was if he ran. He could have just jumped to another time and place, but... No, he was still here, he could smell it, or he would have smelled it, if he'd jumped. Now it was just a matter of finding him, preferably before anyone came after him because he'd run out in the middle of his act.

He made a few twists and turns before deciding that his gut would take him where he needed to be. He could already hear and see people running out of the main tent and away from the camp, and he didn't let himself get distracted by what this could only mean, except maybe for what it might mean for Quinn.

And then he saw him, and the time agent saw him back. Both men froze, though not for long. The time agent took off again and the Doctor pursued. No matter how fast he went, the other man was faster, and still he didn't give up. Now, hopefully, his knowledge of the pathways would come in handy. And a minute later, as the man stopped just at the junction between two tents, he would believe he had finally evaded the stranger chasing him, only to be snatched by the collar and yanked to stand against the support post jutting from one of the tents. He'd try to get away, but then there'd be something in the stranger's eyes.

"Time Lord," he spoke, and the Doctor didn't budge or show surprise at being identified like this, instead he just kept staring into the man's eyes.

"Time Agent," he identified right back. "As you claim."

"As I am."

"You think because you wear a vortex manipulator that this is all it takes to earn yourself the title? Believe me, I have known truer agents and better false ones."

"What do you want?" the man asked, and the Doctor smiled in such a way never to be seen as comforting.

"At first I would have given you the benefit of the doubt. I would have thought what you'd done was an accident or you were just careless. Thing is, you are... Careless, that is, but... oh, in such a worse way," he shook his head.

"Is that right?"

"Taking, no, poaching alien life forms and bringing them here as prisoners to perform for their survival, for people who have no understanding of what it is they are really seeing? They could survive here, if they had chosen it, or if they were just allowed to thrive, but you've domesticated them. And now to top it all off, you take an innocent human girl out of her time and leave her stranded..."

"I saved her!" the man interrupted, and the Doctor... laughed.

"You're more delusional than I thought, now how do you figure it is you... saved her?"

"I see what it is, you want me to send her back from where I took her, is that right?" the agent stared him in the eye. "You care for this girl, yes? You want to put her back, but you don't know what it is you're asking."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Doctor asked, getting a bad feeling but needing to hear. The agent stood quietly for a beat and he almost looked genuinely concerned.

"You send her back, you're as good as killing her," he declared, and the Doctor gave a pointed frown: explain yourself. "I miscalculated a jump, ended up in the wrong time, wrong place. I landed in her car, just a second or two before a truck rammed into the driver's side. I didn't think, I took her hand and I took us both out of there," He stopped, chuckled. "I don't think she even knows. She was looking at her phone and then at me. She didn't see."

The Doctor stood frozen there, gut punched by the revelation. He would have given anything right then to call him a liar, but he knew it wasn't the case. He was telling the truth. In his surprise, he barely reacted when the time agent pried his arms away from his grip. All he could think about was Quinn. He had been promising her she would return home, and that reentering in the spot she had left was the only way, not knowing... this. The worst part was he could feel there was no other choice. He knew this was how it had to be.

"I just wanted to give her an adventure..." he spoke to himself.

"She's here, isn't she?" the agent spoke, and that woke the Doctor up, just in time to get punched in the face and fall back to the ground. The agent stood over him now. "Don't worry, I won't go after her, if that's what you're thinking. Even I have my standards."

"There he is!" he heard a voice from behind, just as the time agent reached and pressed at a button on the cuff at his wrist. He would be gone no matter what, and so the Doctor had looked back to see who was there to catch him.

His eye travelled across the three faces of the guards, Toni, Peter, and Bennett, each one just as shocked as the other if not more about what they had just witnessed. Even working at a circus where they wrangled many 'otherworldly creatures,' the disappearance was shocking, to all of them... All of them but not Dorothy, it seemed. The ringmaster's wife had been the one to call out when she'd seen him a moment ago, except her witnessing of the disappearance came with one glaring omission: it lacked shock. Whatever she'd seen, it had not surprised her in the least, not even a flinch, and the Doctor knew two things then: she'd seen this before, enough times for it to be common to her, and also she knew more than she was letting on.

Now the solution to both his circus and his Quinn problems could well have rested in her, although he didn't know how to handle this. He still didn't know how to deal with his Quinn situation, with the thought of sending her back to... to that... Before he'd have time to figure a thing out, he would be grabbed by the two men and led back to the now vacated tent of 'Roar.' He hoped Quinn was faring better.

TO BE CONTINUED (WEDNESDAY)


	24. Breaking Out Is Hard To Do

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Step Thirty-Eight, Return Strong._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**24. Breaking Out Is Hard To Do**

After they'd been told to keep watch of those left inside the tent, the guards had taken up their posts. There were two at every exit, and as bold as it might have been to go by the main entrance, it wasn't those guards which would be found laid out on the ground some time later.

The two men had remained at their post until a sound had made them look back. When they did, their faces were bathed in a glowing light. Their minds were open wide, as were the eyes of the one they called Temptress. Annidae's stride came with words instructing the guards to lay down and stay there for some time. When they were down, she closed her eyes and took the light away as she did. She turned to find the others had joined her. They'd been made to stay back, turned away, eyes closed, while she did what she had to. They observed her handiwork.

"They'll be okay, right?" Quinn had to ask.

"Yes, just confused is all," Annidae assured her. There was some sadness to her face, and after a moment she spoke. "Where I'm from, my sight is considered a gift, a rare blessing. Here it's made me a slave." Nicholas moved up to her, concerned, and she smiled, resting a hand to his cheek. "We need to hurry and hide," she told him and the others.

"We have to find the Doctor," Quinn shook her head.

"They'll know we've escaped, they'll come for us," Meran pointed out. "Whatever we do, we need to get on with it. Do you have any idea where he could have run off to?" he asked her.

_Maybe he went back to the ship._ That was the first thing she could think of. Why he would have run off like that, for all of them to see, she didn't know, but it could be true and she couldn't just run the risk of ignoring it. She could feel the key to the ship hidden on her.

_Do not lose this, and under no circumstance are you to bring anyone back to the TARDIS, is that clear?_

She had to make the decision quickly. The Doctor had given her these instructions, leaving no margin for error. But he had also given her trust, in her abilities and her judgment, and she was thinking under these circumstances, if he were with her, he might agree that going around on one's own was not a good idea with how the situation was degenerating at the moment, and since he was the reason they were even in this situation… Most of them, she had to assume, had some understanding of a ship, one way or the other, so if she had to pick, then she'd go with the ones who would have zero conceit of a ship like this actually existing.

"I might know a place he'd go. It's not for sure, but it's worth a look, I…"

"You shouldn't go alone," Dex shook his head. Quinn's eyes turned to her new friend, hoping she'd take the cue.

"I'll go with her, we…" Violet replied, then looked to her brother. He nodded. "We'll go with you." Quinn silently welcomed them, in her head thanking her lucky stars that they had made it easy for her.

"Be careful out there, remember what I told you," Meran had gone to Violet, resting a hand to either cheeks. She smiled up to him and nodded.

"You be careful, too. I mean it," she frowned with determination, which only got him smiling, too. "You're strong, but you're kind… They're not kind," she nodded back toward the camp, the guards.

"I will be careful," he said the words for her, and she nodded. As they were saying their goodbyes before the split up, so was Nicholas. He had gone to Annidae.

He had never been frightened by her, by knowing what she could do, the fact she wasn't from this world, how her sight worked… He had been assigned to look after her, to assist her, and it hadn't taken long for them to bond, and just as he'd opened up to her, about his life, his family, she had shared with him her voice, when she had kept it from everyone else. What they had was friendship, at the heart of it, but in just a short time it had all come to feel like something else, like family. His mother had died when he was only two, he didn't remember her. Violet was his sister, four years older than him, and in some aspects she had been made to act as a mother figure, but he hated to put that on her. Then there'd been Annidae, and… the way she was with him, it felt like he could remember his own mother, like she reawakened whatever distant memories he still had.

"You'll be alright?" he asked her as she stood before him.

"I will be, so long as you are," she promised him. "You stay with your sister and the girl, don't wander off, just… be careful," she begged of him. He nodded, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him back, placing a kiss on top of his head.

"We should go," Quinn spoke up, looking around. Meran and Dex looked primed to go on their side of it, strong men ready for a fight. Tamrin had her own kind of steely readiness, while Anro looked left and right like an animal sensing danger. Red looked apprehensive about facing their captors, even though he wouldn't abandon his friends, and Annidae showed that, as strong as she'd been this whole time, this was new territory for her… she wouldn't abandon them either.

"Alright you lot, let's move!" Dex declared, and the six of them moved off, leaving Quinn and the siblings. She signaled for them to follow and they slipped out of the camp into the woods.

"Where are we going?" Nicholas asked.

"The Doctor's ship," Quinn revealed. "It's out there, cloaked."

"Cloaked?" Violet asked.

"Invisible," Quinn clarified. They didn't look quite ready to grasp the concept, but they would soon. They reached the spot, which she confirmed when she reached out and touched the door. She looked back to the pair as she knocked against the spot in mid-air and the sound of knuckles on wood resonated.

"What…" Violet started, while Quinn pulled out the key and felt for the keyhole. When the door swung open, the light from inside fell on them, and Quinn could see in their eyes the same look she probably had on her own face one day before, when she'd seen it for the first time. "How's that…" Violet blinked.

"It's amazing…" Nicholas just smiled, wide-eyed. He walked in first.

"Nicholas, hold on…" Violet went after him. Her steps halted when her eyes took in the size of the control room. She could not see the cloaked exterior, so she wouldn't know the contrast with the interior, but then she was entering a room through an opening in mid-air… Quinn followed in, shutting the door.

"Doctor?" she called out, but all they heard in response was the hum of the ship. "Doctor?" she tried again, but still she got nothing.

"Maybe he's not here," Nicholas spoke as he circled the controls, looking at them. He looked as though he wanted to touch some of the buttons and levers, but he didn't dare. Violet hadn't moved since they'd come in. Quinn stepped up to her.

"Are you alright?"

"All this time, I knew what Meran told me, about other worlds, different… things… But this…" she looked around. "I had no idea." She took a breath, rubbing at her eyes before releasing it. "I don't think he's here, the Doctor."

"Yeah, I guess not."

"So what do we do now?" Violet asked, and Quinn looked back to Nicholas. He was just a kid still. She didn't know what would happen out there, but the thought of him getting hurt in the crossfire…

"You two should stay here, you'll be safer."

"No," Nicholas spoke up instantly. The girls looked to him.

"Listen to her," Violet was much more receptive to this plan than her brother.

"They're our friends, they could get hurt. I'm not sitting here doing nothing." Violet opened her mouth to reply, but he shook his head. "I'm going. What about you?"

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)


	25. Interrogator & Interrogated

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**25. Interrogator & Interrogated**

They had bound his hands and feet before tossing him into Anro's cage. He didn't know when they'd brought it back from the backstage tent, and the way the broken lock had to be reinforced he could guess the cage's previous occupant had not been let out so much as he'd busted out.

"Well this is nice," he looked around, dragging himself as best he could back into a seated position. "Fancy a… pillow," he frowned, still searching for a good spot. "So, now, I apologize for running… stage fright… It was my first time, after all…"

"Shut up," Toni commanded.

"Yes, I'll do that. It's terrible, I never do know when to shut up. It's a family trait." Peter and Bennett stood forward, revealing pistols. "Shutting up, starting now."

"Why did you run?" Toni asked. His instinct was to play on the fact they had just told him to shut up, but it would have been unwise… which didn't always stop him, but this time it did. Either way, he did know that the best way to get them talking was if he kept cooperating.

"I told you, stage fright. Has no one here had… first night jitters?" he asked. They didn't answer.

"You're not going to start howling day and night like Roar, are you?" Bennett frowned. "It's just one small performance and then the day's done." For a moment he almost sounded friendly, and maybe he was… Compared to Toni, the two men didn't look nearly as threatening.

"Yes, I will do that, I will take it into consideration, thank you, I… Oh!" The realization came to him, pieces falling into place, and he couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out before… The howl, the damned howl he'd been hearing on and off… It was a distress call, a signal… It wasn't for pain that he howled, it was his people. That was what had led him here in the first place, must have been… And if they heard him, if they came… then it was just one more piece of trouble hanging over their heads.

"Don't get fooled," Toni looked to the pair behind her. "He just comes along this morning, offers himself for capture, pokes his nose where it doesn't belong, then on his first night creates a riot," she came up to the cage.

"A riot?" He might have wanted to look less intrigued and amused by this. A moment later she had yanked at the chain that bound his feet and he slid forward, his head thudding on the soft earth.

"What was that we saw before?" she asked.

"What was what?" the Doctor asked back.

"The flash. There was a man there, we saw it. Did you do something to him? Did you vaporize him?"

"Vaporize?" the Doctor frowned. "What, no, why would… how would…"

"Who knows what it is you do, your kind… You don't even look different is what makes it worse," she observed him.

"Is that right…" he sat himself back up, now wiser and more keenly aware of the chain. "Would you rather I had a giant horn at the back of my head?"

"What did you do? What were you planning to do? Tell us, and everything will become much easier for you, I guarantee."

"Now why don't I believe you?" he spoke to himself.

"Will I be seeing the man in charge? Or perhaps his wife? Charming people, I must say, although haven't you noticed that thing there…"

"The thing?" Peter asked.

"Yes, the thing, you know…" he led on, his limbs unfortunately restrained out of use from him.

"Do you mean the arm?" Bennett asked, which got him a glare from Toni, but bonus points from the Doctor. He could see it in his mind, all wrapped and ominous, and it all came together to the point where he was convinced it had to be some sort of prosthetic, very likely robotic and most definitely not of this time… His suspicions of the woman only became more pronounced with time.

"No, not her, him," he redirected, so now to get information on Magnus.

The men looked to one another as though fishing for something it could have been, and their dumfounded loss for answer told the Doctor there was nothing remarkable about the ringmaster, so unless he was the greatest of deception artists and had them fooled, which he doubted, then Magnus was a harmless lamb.

"Alright, I think that's all I w… I mean, what else do you need to know," he sat up prone and ready to get this over with. He had things to do, places to be, people to save…

X

Dorothy Wellesley knew when to pack up and call it a day, and they'd reached that point here. She knew full well after tonight her cover story would fall beneath her. She had to get out and quick. But there were… loose ends to tie up.

She had been here for years now, and this wasn't something she could ignore. She had settled in her ways, and no matter how determined she was to keep a line firmly drawn in between her true self and Magnus, damn the man if she didn't really fall for him. Leaving him would actually be the hardest thing she had ever done.

She was making a hasty job of packing now that the Doctor had been apprehended, some of her worries could be removed, but all it allowed her was time to pack. She made no allusions to the possibility this could be swept under the rug. It was happening, the dominos were falling.

"Dorothy? Are you here?" she heard Magnus and hurried to snap her suitcase shut before slipping out from behind the partition between their room and the main of their tent. Her husband looked frazzled, as she imagined he would be at a time like this. "Thank goodness you're alright!" he gasped, moving to hold her. She welcomed it. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm alright," she assured. "But what about you?" she asked him.

"I'll be fine," he assured back.

"What's happening?" her voice trembled.

"I don't know what happened, the show started, the Temptress did her dance… I think," he frowned with the same confusion he always did after having endured the light in Anni's eyes. "The Doctor came and… maybe if I had worked his act with him, or waited a few more days…" he shook his head, pacing about.

It really was just too easy in doing all this. Magnus just wanted to believe in people, in the wonder of the world… He could believe that people like 'Red' or Annidae could have been born to this world, human beings with such talents… It was almost too sweet how gullible he could be, because despite everything, it was one of the things that had made her fall in love with him.

"I'm sure you did everything you could," she told him, her arms around him. He smiled and nodded and she kissed him. "It's why I love you," she told him. "Now go on…"

She loved him so, but he was a liability, and she wasn't who she had been by leaving liabilities. Her love for him had afforded Magnus the gift that she had waited until he had his back turned before she let the wrap fall from her arm and placed the flexible metal fingers on his head, looking every bit like any hand but for the effect it had, to zap the life right out of him.

He fell back and she caught him, laid him down still cradling him in her arms. He would never know her betrayal, and it might have made her a coward, but she was one who'd been in love, so what difference did it make?

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)


	26. Rising to the Occasion

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Sneaking In With Bells On._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**26. Rising to the Occasion**

As much as they were prisoners in all this, for the most part they had been able to roam along the camp during the day, which made it just a little easier for them to sneak their way along. They could hope that he had gone to his ship and Quinn would find him there. But deep down they knew he would probably be here, and as they made their way along they also grew convinced he had been captured.

"Stop," Tamrin would call after a while, and as they ducked to the side, she angled a pointed finger at a heavily guarded tent. "There." The 'guards' here were not those they had been cornered by before, as easy as it had ended up being to evade them. These guards were any and all available circus hands. Cooks and helpers, people who helped them prepare, and dress, mended cuts, tended bruises… They weren't all bad, most of them weren't bad. And now they had been put in the role, despite themselves, of the opposition, those standing in their way. They didn't want to hurt them, but would it go both ways? Would they still be those kind people when the 'freaks' revolted?

"We can't go after them," Red would beg, his voice trembling.

"You know he's in there," Dex looked up to him, frowned.

"We could lead them away," Meran suggested. "We split up, half act as diversion, the others go in, get him out."

"How do we do that?" Dex asked, on board but needing a plan. "I'm a fast runner," he reminded.

"Alright, then you circle their tent, come out in front, let them see you, and then lead them that way," Meran pointed. Dex nodded. "I'll come in from the other side of this tent, and I'll lead them down the middle." He paused. "We need one more."

"Let me do it," Tamrin valiantly offered.

"No, you need to go in and get the Doctor," Annidae spoke up. "I'll go."

"Are you going to be able to see where…" Tamrin started, still unfamiliar with the closed-eyed girl.

"I can see perfectly, and if need be, I can use my gift," Annidae promised, though she did so with apprehension on the last part.

"Then you just go and lead them off the third road," Meran pointed. "Dex first, then you, and I'll go last. Hopefully we'll draw all or most of them away, if not… then it's on you to find a way to get past them. You two," he looked to his fellow runners, "Lead them, lose them, and come back to stand guard, help get him out if you haven't already done it," he now turned to the other three.

"We'll get it done," Tamrin vowed. Anro at her side placed a hand to his chest, even if none of them knew what it meant the way Quinn did, but he got his message across. Red could never be a runner, so now this was to be his task, and as scared as he was, he would convince himself that he was strong enough.

"Dex, go," Meran had barely spoken that the 'boy' had zoomed off behind their hiding spot and the guarded tent before emerging into plain view, pausing as his eyes turned on the assembled guards.

"Oh, hello…" he played innocent, unable to keep from grinning before he shot off again. His fugue dislodged a handful of the guards who took off after him. Annidae was primed to go, but Meran stopped her.

"Wait, let him go or they'll realize something is wrong." They waited a minute and some seconds more before he signalled and she went. She shuffled into view.

"It's Temptress," one of the men called, and after years of holding her tongue, she had gulped a lungful of air.

"My name is Annidae," she corrected, and with that she ran.

Her sprint had taken even more guards, but there were still a number of them. Meran knew it would take something big to move them, and they knew from experience that, should 'Hercules' get out of control, it would take the force of many to overpower him.

"Wait another minute and go," he told the other three, two minutes after the second run. He went at the other end of their cover tent, and he made his way into the open. He didn't leave much time to think. He ran off, and he hoped he'd taken as many as possible.

He took them all. Within moments, there was no one left in front of the tent. "Well done," Tamrin smirked before looking to her team. The way Anro already trusted her just made knowing what she'd put him through feel worse. Meanwhile Red was still a nervous wreck. "Be strong now," she told him, nodding firmly. They were the first words she had ever addressed to him, the first time they had been permitted really, and he took them to heart. "Let's go."

Anro shuffled out first, Red next, and Tamrin taking the rear as they slipped into the tent. They would encounter Peter and Bennett first, though Anro bypassed them to go after Toni. Tamrin had knocked out Peter, turned to do the same to Bennett only to find him already on the ground. Red looked back to her, just as shocked as she was, and still she smiled and nodded to him.

"Back away now, Roar!" Toni ordered, though she had already fallen back on the ground, looking to the beast prowling over her.

"His name is Anro," the Doctor's voice broke through as he dragged himself into a seated position. "I don't think he likes the name you gave him all that much. I don't blame him there."

"Doctor!" Tamrin was relieved to see him, and he took in the scene proper.

"You've all met now, fantastic. What about…"

"She's safe," Red promised, sidestepping the man he had knocked out. Toni laughed and they looked to her. "Why is she…"

"Funny, looking at what you did there, I could almost see him." They hesitated, puzzled by her statement.

"See… See who?" Red asked. The Doctor flinched like he could feel it, something about to happen. He started fidgeting, attempting to turn his shackled hands in such a way that he could reach in his pocket and find his sonic screwdriver.

"Renlo…" she drew out the name, holding the trio's attention and half of the Doctor's. "They really did a number on you, didn't they? You didn't crash here, you didn't lose your memory. They took it from you when you tried to escape," she revealed.

"Don't…" the Doctor tried to tell them, twisting, reaching, reaching… Toni was reaching, too, reaching behind her back.

"Is she saying…" Red looked to Tamrin and Anro, who observed him now.

"You're Renlo?" Tamrin frowned, surprised. "I've heard tales here about you. I thought you had died…"

"I did, he… he did…" his addled mind was barely grasping the load of information.

"Stop her, stop her now!" the Doctor begged as he finally felt the metal of the screwdriver beneath his fingers. He closed his hand around it, pulled it out and worked it to aim at his restraints and unlock the shackles.

At this same instant, the trio had come to hear his warning and they looked up, only just in time to make a quick decision and act, but there was only a small window in which to do this.

Because in the time they had been distracted, Toni had retrieved the knife tucked in her belt and, with three targets to choose from, she had aimed and let the blade fly.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)


	27. From Bad to Worse to Invasion

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**27. From Bad to Worse to Invasion**

Quinn could have tried convincing Nicholas that he and his sister should stay behind in the TARDIS while she went back to the camp, but they were going to fight her on it, needed to go back to help, and the longer she tried to convince them otherwise, the more time she lost where she could be helping… and she had this feeling like she really needed to push ahead.

So she had nodded, and they were going back. Stepping back out, she could see them look back in awe at the opening in mid-air… She kind of did, too. But then they shut and locked the door and got to walking. The closer they got, the more they could start seeing some of the stragglers, the spectators still making their way out, hanging around, too curious to realize they should just get the hell out.

They could also see the camp's workers just… running, looking about like they were searching for something, or someone.

"What is going on over there?" Quinn frowned. "Who are they chasing?"

"I don't know, but we should go in this way," Violet directed, and they followed.

They had just made it down through Violet's passage when she paused, sensing that Nicholas was lagging. Only as both girls turned they saw he was staring up at the sky.

"What are you doing, we need to hurry," Violet reached for him.

"There's something up there," he pointed.

They would only need to turn their eyes to the night skies above to stop and stare in just as much awe. There was something up there, and to the siblings it might have been an even bigger oddity, but to Quinn it looked very much like…

"It's a ship…" she spoke, amazed.

"Is it your people?" Violet would ask, snapping her back to reality, confused.

"My people?" she asked. From the look on the girl's face, it seemed like she was taking a risk, saying something she shouldn't. Unless… Had the Doctor made up some story or another? It would explain the abrupt turnaround she had made in her opinions… "No, it's not, I… We should find the Doctor." She didn't know who this ship belonged to, but as before she knew it couldn't be good.

X

He had failed her in this, all along, from the moment they had met, he knew… her bravery, her honor, was something to respect her for, but it could also be her undoing.

He couldn't have stopped it, still trapped in his cage; he had been made spectator to the surprise attack and, with it, he had to watch helplessly as the knife struck.

From the ground, Toni had thrown the knife, and it had been fast, but not fast enough that Tamrin could not see where it would find its purchase. It would have taken Anro and torn through him without mercy. If in certain instances people could be said to have acted without thinking, it wasn't so for her. She had moved quickly to push him out of the way, but not so fast that she could manage to evade it as well. It lodged itself in her chest with impact that made her stagger before she stopped with shock and keeled over.

The Doctor had cried out but it had been too late. As he got the cage open, the others were already moving, reacting fast. Anro had moved to Tamrin's aid while Red - Renlo, he now needed to remember - was finding he could no longer just stand back. He was still fretting, but he still got it together enough to step up and guard Toni from acting again.

The Doctor got out from the cage and came to sit on his knees next to the woman, resting against the beast man. Her breath came struggling, and she had grown paler… She knew what was coming already, and so did the Doctor as he observed her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

"Don't…" Her voice was still strong; he expected no less. "I've paid my debt." Her eyes turned, searching until she could find Anro. "They've made… monsters of us, haven't they?" she laughed nervously, struggling for air. The laugh faded and she grew serious. "The things… they made me… things I did to you…" Anro growled – spoke – and the Doctor looked up, nodded. He would translate for him.

"He says he knows you were being lied to, that he tried to tell you but you couldn't understand him. He says he's not… he's not angry with you," the Doctor bowed his head. He wished he could have done more for her, for all of them. He looked up again as Anro continued to speak. "He says his people greatly value honor, as you do, and he believes yours is great and true." Tamrin took the beast's hand, nodding weakly; she was fading fast.

"Don't let them keep you caged anymore. You can be yourself again," she told him. "We are not… theirs…"

Her eyes had fixed, the ragged breaths had stopped… She was gone. The tent was quiet for a few beats before Anro raised a mournful howl.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told him, but he wasn't listening. Anro looked down, put his hand to the top of her head, a solemn goodbye before pulling the offending knife from her chest. His gaze fell to Toni, still under Renlo's watch.

"Anro, don't," the Doctor begged him slowly.

From the time he had been brought here, he had been made to act like an animal. He understood them but they didn't understand him, so it wasn't worth much in the end. He would be made to shuffle along like that was his way, but it wasn't. Now he had the choice, to continue believing this was his life, or to decide that things were about to change and maybe they would get out of this.

When he stood to his full height, all eyes followed him. His knees buckled for just a moment, not used to it anymore, but he recovered. He took two steps toward Toni, who for the first time looked at least slightly frightened.

He looked her in the eye… and he threw the knife aside. The Doctor breathed out, relieved. He moved to the still unconscious Peter and Bennett, giving their faces a few smacks to get them to wake again.

"Rise and shine now, come on. Up, up…" he went on until they came to. "Here we are, now…" he crouched down. "Now the two of you, I look at you, I don't think you're actually that bad, you were just doing your job. This job involved keeping them safe, didn't it? Well that one there, she killed this one here," he pointed to Toni and then Tamrin's body. "If I leave her in your hands, I trust you'll take care of her in a civilized manner?" The men looked to one another before nodding to the Doctor. "Thank you."

When he turned again, Anro had crouched to gather up Tamrin's body. He stood again, and if not for the blood on her, she might have looked to be asleep. He looked to the Doctor, and his intent was clear: He wasn't leaving her body with them. Now it was time to go.

TO BE CONTINUED (THURSDAY)


	28. We Do Not Play By Vengeance

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Matchmaker Remake Me A Match._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**28. We Do Not Play By Vengeance**

They had run left and right and here and there… At times they even crisscrossed, seeing one another. And still they could not be caught. They weren't sure how long it had lasted, but once they had led their chase packs far enough from the Doctor's tent they had then gone into evade mode. They would put in the distance between them, and then… they'd disappear. They would hear them all, wondering where they'd gone, but it didn't matter to them. Now they had to get back.

When Dex had reached the tent, he was stunned to find Annidae already there. "I thought I'd be the first!" he came up to her with a smile.

"Sorry," she looked past him to make sure he wasn't followed. "No one saw you?"

"Of course they didn't. They still see me as a child, frightened and confused." He posted himself at her side. "Are they still in there?"

"Yes," she confirmed. At her return, she could still hear voices inside. She had not dared look, not wanting to put friends at risk.

Soon after, Meran had arrived. There was blood coming from his side, and the other two had gone up to him. "What happened?" Dex asked while Anni checked him out.

"I'm alright," he promised. "We passed some of the spectators as we were running. They must have been startled when they saw me coming, and one of them threw something the wound is superficial. Those who chased me stopped to intervene, that's how I got away from them," he revealed.

"He's right," Anni concluded. "The bleeding has stopped."

"The Doctor?" Meran asked, and Dex pointed to the tent. "Right," Meran led them back to it. "Then we do as we agreed. We wait h…"

They had just placed themselves back in front of the tent when Dex saw her coming.

"Anni, open your eyes, do it now!" he pointed ahead and the other two looked up to see Dorothy coming their way. Annidae had been caught off guard, and she did as told, the light bursting unbound from her eyes. Dorothy froze in place, entranced, but then so did Meran and Dex. They would be alright, so long as she didn't compel them or leave them exposed too long.

She moved toward the ringmaster's wife, and immediately she noticed two things. The first was her arm. For as long as she'd known her, she had only ever seen her with the arm covered, but today she had come striding in with the thing exposed, and it was properly a thing… This was not flesh, even though it moved as any arm would, but it was… metal. She had always sensed something unnatural about it, and whenever she'd seen Dorothy anywhere near the beast man he would cower like there was danger about.

The second thing she noticed was her eyes, her face: she was fighting the light. She'd rarely seen anyone able to do so, which told her the woman was stronger than she let on. Annidae needed to act now, before she somehow managed to free herself.

She didn't know how she knew, but her instincts told her not to touch the arm, that the safest thing to do was to take it away from Dorothy. "Can it be removed?" she asked her. Dorothy's face strained. The light would compel her to answer truthfully, even if she didn't want to.

"Y… Yes," she grunted. Annidae removed the robe she wore over her dress and carefully wrapped it over the arm. She looked to Dorothy, sensed her frustration, but that wouldn't stop her. Finally it was becoming clear the woman was not who she claimed to be, and she was a danger they had to put an end to. So with one good yank, she had pulled the arm off.

Dorothy's cry rang through her body and she backpedalled, still holding the arm. She was fighting through more and more, and she couldn't hold her for much longer, but she had to try.

"Stop," she commanded her, but it didn't stop the woman talking.

"You're going to have to close those eyes eventually. And when you do there won't be anything or anyone to protect you," Dorothy threatened, just as Annidae felt a shock from holding to the arm and had to let go.

When it hit the ground, there was a moment where it just laid there. But then it moved, and Annidae watched it begin a slow crawl back toward its owner. Dorothy looked to it as it approached, bidding for it to get to her, still trapped in Anni's light.

"Come, that's it, come on…" she spoke through gritted teeth.

He came barrelling out of the tent, arm shielding his eyes as he practically dove on the thing, which wriggled defensively but in vain as it took just one encounter with the sonic screwdriver for it to lose all motion and power. Dorothy's cry there was even more pained than when the thing had been ripped from her shoulder.

"Annidae, you can shut your eyes now!" the Doctor called out, his own eyes squeezed shut as he sat there. After a moment, the light receded and he opened them again. "Well, I'm two-nothing on arm wrestling," he smirked to himself, recalling his encounter with the plastic arm and… Rose…

As soon as Annidae had closed her eyes and taken her trance away, Dorothy, Meran, and Dex had all fallen to their knees. Anni had rushed to help the two men, helping them recover enough to stand. Dorothy, for her part, had been properly struck down by the loss of the arm, like her mind had been cracked by it.

Now that the arm had been neutralized, the others had emerged from the tent. Renlo already carried himself with a bit more confidence, from all he had learned and accomplished, though his fearful side still ruled over all. But what the three runners saw more than anything was Anro walking out with Tamrin's body in his arms. They stood, looking to her with defeat. They had barely known her, with how she and the man who now carried her had been kept separate from them, but she had still been part of this, of them, and on this night she had not hesitated to help them… Now she was gone, and they felt for her… Sadness for her loss, anger for her demise…

"Who did this to her?" Dex demanded.

"Toni," Renlo provided. "They've got her," he promised.

"Do you know what I had to go through to get that?" Dorothy panted as she struggled to rise, staring them down. She looked primed for a fight, but they just stared at her. This was not how they intended to settle this, with violence.

"I don't think they care," the Doctor pushed her back down to sit with a nudge to the shoulder. No matter how much she had fought back against Annidae's influence, her knees still gave way instantly. "If I were you, I would stay down," he glared down. He wouldn't act against her either, but she didn't need to know that.

"Anni!" a voice drew their attention and they looked to find Nicholas, Violet, and Quinn running their way.

"Meran!" Violet had gone for him, hugged him near. His side hurt and he was still weakened by the effects of the light, but he showed none of it when he held her.

"Quinn, are you alright?" the Doctor had looked to her as he came toward him, but she just shook her head and pointed off into the skies.

"I'm okay, but we've got company. Who are they?" He frowned, looking back to Anro, who had now seen it, too.

"Those are his people… Can't imagine they'll be too pleased… Here, hold this," he tossed the dead metal arm to her, straightened his bow tie. He had a crisis to avert.

TO BE CONTINUED (SATURDAY)


	29. Howled Until I Was Heard

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**29. Howled Until I Was Heard**

Seeing the Doctor stride off toward the ship in the sky, the rest of the group had looked to one another. They had to keep an eye on Dorothy, there was Tamrin's body… They had to do something though.

Anro had gone to Meran, nodded down to the body, and the man understood, taking her from him. Once she was safely transferred, he'd turned to Quinn and pointed off to where the Doctor had gone.

"You want to go after him," she guessed, and he nodded. She looked back to the others. "Stay here," she told them as she and Anro took off running. "Wait!" she called after him, as he was faster than her. They reached the Doctor, which was made easier by the fact that he'd stopped and now stared straight up at the ship. "What happens if they come down?"

"Oh, I want them to come down," he assured her. "If I can talk to them, maybe they won't decide to strike back for what your time agent and the woman on the other end of that arm you're holding have done to him and the other five," the Doctor explained, indicating Anro.

"Are they dangerous?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know, what's your definition of danger?" he asked, looking down at her. "If I tell you to do something, you do it, alright?"

"Got it," she promised. She trusted him, no matter how she'd doubted one thing or another before, she had settled those things by now. If he said run, she ran. "What are you planning?" she asked, and he smiled.

"Anro, you called them from worlds away, how about getting them to come for a quick talk?" he looked to the beast man.

"Doctor?" Quinn touched his arm, interrupting him in order to point out the new arrivals.

Just ahead of them, in the clearing, three of them had appeared. They looked as Anro did, of course, but it was clear they had never been in captivity, never been made to crawl on all fours like animals. Quinn looked at them, and what she could see more than anything was what Dorothy and the others had robbed of him. What she also saw though was that the trio looked like they would strike if any of them gave them reason to.

"Good, excellent, uh… hello," he smiled, stepping up. "I'm the Doctor." The middle one of the trio had begun to growl in what Quinn knew, without understanding, was speech.

"What are they saying?" she whispered.

"Well, in broad strokes," he hesitated, "They're upset, and they think we were the ones who took him."

"But he can tell them…" she looked back to Anro. He looked back to her, moving ahead. She could vaguely get the sense that he knew some or all three of them. He was all but bending the knee. She watched, listened as he conversed with them. She could try and guess what was happening, but her best way of seeing it was by looking to the Doctor. At first he was nodding, satisfied, but then he stopped. "What?" she asked him.

"Good news is they believe you and I were not responsible." She waited, knowing what would come next. "But now they may be ready to take on… everybody else."

"No, hold on!" she came up to join Anro at the front.

"Quinn…" the Doctor held a hand out to try and bring her back.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Can they understand me?" she asked Anro, and he shook his head. "Then translate for me," she asked him before turning back to the trio. "I've been here no more than a day, and in that time I've had to accept the fact that there are such things as travels in space and time, and other… people, from different worlds. I don't know how common it is to you, although you have a ship so I guess you're familiar with it, but it's new to me. I never knew it was real, but those people back there, they know even less. They would have no way of defending themselves, but they would try, because that's what you do when people attack you, right? You may not know what's happening, but you fight back to survive. You can spare them that, and spare yourselves the potential casualties. The problem is done, it's being fixed. We know who's responsible, and they'll be punished, the way they should be. Anro's here, and he's safe, and he can go home, with you… No one else needs to get hurt. I've gotten to know him, briefly, but… I know what he's like, and if he's one of you then I can only hope that you share in those qualities that made me see how good he is, that I didn't have to be afraid around him the way some of these people were." She paused, breathed. "All he wants is to go home… I know what that's like."

Anro had translated the whole way and, when she finished, he bowed his head and put his hand over his heart as he looked to her. She smiled, then tilted her head discreetly as though to ask how they were taking it. He looked back to them, and he spoke again. When he was done, much to her surprise, it was now them who bowed their heads… to her.

"That's… that's good, right?" she blinked. A moment later, the trio was gone. "Are they loading up to return, or…"

"No, they're waiting… Time to say goodbye," the Doctor explained. Anro started back for where they'd left the others then, so the Doctor and Quinn followed. He returned to Tamrin, who rested on the ground now. Violet had taken her vest and placed it under her head, because she felt as though she should. He crouched at her side, speaking to the Doctor over his shoulder.

"Yes, I think you should," he bowed his head. "Thank you." Quinn looked to him. "Anro asked to deliver Tamrin's body back to her people himself, he says he wants them to know just who she was." Quinn smiled, moving to crouch at Anro's side. He looked to her and she took his hand.

"Probably won't see each other again, but… I won't forget you," she promised. He put his hand on top of her head and she laughed. "Who says we need words?" she breathed out. "You take care of yourself, Anro, okay?" He held his hand over his heart and she cried and laughed at once.

They would stand back, the Doctor and Quinn, to watch as the group said its goodbyes to the one they had called Roar. They hadn't really known him, because they wouldn't let them, but he was still one of them.

When all was said and done though, he would rise, taking up Tamrin's body and carrying her down the way, back to where they'd stood just a moment ago. As he'd get to the clearing, he and the body would disappear.

"You know if you should ever find yourself on his world now, they would welcome you with all the care one gives a hero," the Doctor spoke at Quinn's ear. "That's more or less the way he described you."

When they were gone, there was a brief moment's silence over the group before the Doctor looked back to them, to Dex, and Meran, and Renlo, and Annidae… to Dorothy.

"Who wants to go home, too?"

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	30. Homecomings & Partings

_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Old Wounds & New Alike._

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**30. Homecomings & Partings**

The rest of the camp would be handled by those who belonged to it, and perhaps they would find a way to turn themselves around, reform the circus. But where it came to their group, they wouldn't stick around to find out. With Dorothy bound and all of them ready to go, they had begun their march through the forest. Not everyone knew what to expect, though the lack of questions told him without bothering to ask that Quinn had brought the siblings to the TARDIS. Finally they had reached it and he opened the door.

"Step this way, come one, come all," he announced in his own ringmaster of a voice as they walked through.

"You didn't just change your face," Dex looked around. "I like it."

"Don't get any ideas, now. I'm taking you home," the Doctor pointed a finger at him.

"Yes, yes, I know. Say, you wouldn't have anything my size?" he tugged at his costume. "Can't well show up looking like this…"

"She'll show you the way," the Doctor indicated Quinn. "That goes for all of you, if you need it." When the group returned to the Doctor and the siblings, they looked like brand new people, like themselves.

Now seeing Meran this way, Violet looked as though she was realizing at last what was coming. All this time she could tell, from what he would talk about, how much he wanted to go home… Now what did that mean for them? She had retreated into herself, as they made their way to drop off their first passengers.

The TARDIS came to a stop, and the Doctor looked to Renlo. He looked lost, and they could imagine why. With his memories gone, it had been difficult, but with the Doctor's help, they had found when and where he had been taken from and should be returned to. It didn't make it any easier for him. "You're going home, Renlo. I know even that name is still not familiar to you again after what they did to you… but home has a power all its own. You could get it back, get yourself back."

"What if there's nothing to get back?" Renlo asked. The Doctor just smiled a knowing smile.

They had left the ship, just the Doctor and Quinn and Renlo. After spending so much time being the 'odd red man out,' now it was the other two who stood out. They watched him as he took in his surroundings, like he searched for something that would spark everything, bring Renlo back to him.

"Right this w… Yes, this way," the Doctor spied something and redirected the once nameless man toward a small house. Out front, a boy and girl were working to gather vegetables from their garden. The girl, looking to be twelve or thirteen, knelt to dig for roots, while the boy, all of fifteen… looked just like Renlo. The man paused, watching them. His eyes said it all: it was as though the whole thing rested, right there out of his reach.

The girl had been the one to look up, and as she saw the man, not even noticing the other two, her brow furrowed with its own amount of distant memory, with one difference: she remembered. She stood and moved to the boy, pointing off to the trio. Quinn looked to the Doctor, in awe of what she saw unfolding before her, while he looked to Renlo, begging for something to happen, for him to bridge the gap. When the boy looked up as well, his recollection was instantaneous. The smiles on their faces were bringing tears to Renlo's eyes and he couldn't figure out w…

"What are their names? Renlo, think, what are their names?" the Doctor spoke from over his shoulder.

It was all boiling up and it hit him like a ton of bricks. He took off at a run, and the boy and girl ran to meet him. He skidded to his knees as he reached them, touched his shoulder, touched her cheek.

"Nevall… Sellia…" his face trembled with sobs, looking into their faces, remembering them, his son and daughter.

"She said you'd find a way back!" the girl, Sellia, beamed, and Renlo felt his heart latch to another memory. He looked up, and at the door there she was. He stood, and her name slipped from his lips without a moment's thought.

"Denila…" She was crying just as he was, and as they were reunited, Quinn took the Doctor's arm.

"I think we should leave them be."

"I… But… Oh, alright, come on," he led her back to the TARDIS. They would drop Dex off next. In his case the return was about as free from drama as could be.

"My mother will want me to settle down," he sighed to Quinn as they stood around the console, then smirked. "Say, I know there's something of an age difference, but I'm not that old, compared to this one," he nodded back to the Doctor, who looked up.

"Stop it," he gave a pointed look. Quinn just chuckled. Dex replied with a frown, but now they were arriving.

"Take care of yourself, Time Lord. Come and see me some time," he went to say his goodbyes to him.

"If you listen to your mother, I just might have to," the Doctor smiled, and Dex went off with another frown, squinting at him before walking out of the TARDIS.

There were only seven of them left in the ship now, with the next set to be dropped off being Meran, and save for the hum of machinery, all was so quiet they would hear everything sharp and clear. Meran had been sitting with Violet leaning against him since well before they'd dropped off Dex.

Nicholas had been watching her for a time as well. He had been doing his share of thinking about some things, things which already felt so big and impossible for him, but now there was this, and he had come to find there was just this solution. He went and sat at his sister's side.

"You should go with him." Violet looked to her brother.

"I… Nicholas, I wouldn't leave you."

"I know. That's the problem, that's why you need to do it, because of that, and because you love him. You take care of me, and you know I'm thankful for that, you're my sister… But you shouldn't have to be my mother, too, you should… you should be able to live your own life, too."

"But you're just a boy," Violet cried with a smile. "Someone needs to look out for you…"

"I will." They looked back to Annidae as she spoke. She shared a smile with Nicholas.

"I… I can't just leave you," Violet took his hand.

"Hold on…" the Doctor suddenly pitched in, patting at one pocket on his jacket and then the other. "Where did I… Alright, I seem to have misplaced it, but I should have something you could use, to keep in touch. You say the word, and I'll find it and deliver it to you both, that is… if you decide to go."

Violet looked to her brother, to Annidae… She looked to Meran. Nicholas was right, she knew all her decisions had been for him, for years now. But she looked to Meran and she couldn't bear the thought of leaving him. Maybe it was time for a change. She looked back to the Doctor, silently begging that he promise to deliver what he'd said he would. He nodded.

When the TARDIS doors had opened, Violet had looked to her brother and thrown her arms around him, speaking at his ear, farewells for them only. She hadn't stopped crying completely since she had said yes, probably wouldn't until some time had passed and they were gone. She wanted to go but had never been away from Nicholas since the day he was born. She stood with Meran, out on the ground of his world, while Nicholas remained within the TARDIS, with Annidae.

"Wait…" Quinn had told the Doctor, going out to meet the girl, hugging her. In all this, they'd almost gone without saying goodbye. Violet hugged her. "I'll close the doors for you, okay?" she promised her.

"Okay," Violet nodded. After a moment, she pulled back. "You're not… You're human, aren't you?" she guessed, and Quinn smiled, nodding. "So your name is really Lucy then?"

"It is… But I go by Quinn," she revealed.

"Thank you, Quinn."

She had come back to stand just inside, taking hold of the handles, looking back to Nicholas and then Violet before shutting the doors. The Doctor had given it a moment, and then they had taken off, bound for Annidae's world. Nicholas, who had shown strength like never before in getting his sister to let go, finally did some letting go of his own, allowing himself to cry. Annidae held him, whispering words of comfort.

They had reached Annidae's world, and there Quinn said her goodbyes to Nicholas, while the Doctor moved to the woman with the closed eyes. "Your gift is yours again," he told her, and she smiled. "Don't be afraid of it," he told her, and she nodded. She and Nicholas would leave the TARDIS, the doors shutting to silence again.

"Now what?" Quinn asked, and the Doctor turned to Dorothy who'd been sitting there, silent and bound since they had left the camp. He moved up to and crouched before her.

"What's his name? And don't play innocent, you know who." She stared at him hard.

"Carter Wellesley. He's my brother."

"Good. Then let's go find your brother."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	31. You Always Have A Choice

_A/N: Already the end is coming, final chapter on Wednesday! I don't want it to end! :')_

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**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**31. You Always Have A Choice**

His sister would understand why he'd left. Dorothy would have done the same, seeing how the situation now looked to be degenerating. She would understand why, but he wasn't fool enough to think she'd let him get away with it. He may have been of her blood, but she wouldn't hesitate to spill his if she ever found him. So he made himself scarce.

He had been settled in the resort for two days already. It would have seemed an easy pick for him, but this was his hidden gem, and not even Dorothy would find him there.

His poaching days were over, at least where his sister and her husband were concerned. But then old habits died hard, because he'd had his eye on the young serving girl who'd been attending him since his arrival… She looked like a tree, she did. He bet a lot of people, gullible ones, of course, would pay good money to see her…

"Freshen your drink, sir?" a man's voice asked from his side.

"Yes, please, where…" he looked up.

"Hello," the Time Lord gave a smile, and Carter scrambled, not to get up, but to reach the cuff at his wrist. But the other man had seen to it already, and he snatched Carter's arm in mid-air, taking the cuff away. "Just so you don't go disappearing on me again."

Now he scrambled to get up. He ran away from the Doctor, never minding that he wasn't chasing him and not seeing as, out of nowhere, the beach was parted and an opening appeared. In his momentum he ran right through it and stumbled to fall when he took a small but unplanned incline on to new ground under his bare feet… metal. He turned on to his back to find a familiar looking blonde overhead, staring at him.

"Hi," she smirked, hand still on the TARDIS door handle. Then she nodded ahead and he turned his head to find his sister, Dorothy, tied up and glaring.

"Hey, sis…"

"I would stay down if I were you," Quinn told him, as the Doctor returned and shut the door.

"I can do that," Carter held his hands up. Before long he would be bound and dropped at his one-armed sister's side.

"So, this is the part where you tell us what you'll do to us for hurting your little friends?" Dorothy frowned, forever sour. The Doctor looked to Quinn, then approached the pair.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Oh, we won't hurt you, no. In fact, I'll give you a choice."

"What kind of choice?" Carter asked.

"Now, you did take six men and women from their homes, lock them up like animals, made them perform for your benefits. You made one of them go and forget everything of himself, down to his name. You put one of them in the path of their eventual death. You threatened, and you took, anything and anyone as you pleased, and I can promise you all six of their people would love nothing more than to get their hands on you. They might prosecute you, lock you up to waste away for the rest of your lives, or they could choose a more extreme form of punishment, befitting of their feelings toward you."

"And what's the other option?" Dorothy droned.

"I take you home, to where you came from, and I let them sort it out."

"Would that be your opinion of a more merciful option?" she asked.

"I never said anything about mercy," the Doctor shrugged. "Has someone been bad?" he looked to the two of them. "Six worlds, one crime. Home, many crimes." They didn't speak. "Home it is."

As he returned to the controls, he couldn't help but notice how Carter looked off to where Quinn stood. In all the running around, he had almost forgotten about what he'd learned from Carter. No… that was a lie, he hadn't forgotten, he couldn't. At the very least, he had been able to push it to the back of his mind. But now with how the man looked to her, the Doctor feared he would reveal to her the fate that awaited her when she went back home, and what that would do to her.

Carter didn't say a thing as they went, but the Doctor didn't count him out. That was the thing about a big piece of information like that. It had value, like currency, or a card, a piece, and you had to know when to play it. So before they were set to exit the TARDIS, he whispered at his ear, just a handful of words. Carter had looked back to him, and the expression on his face told the Doctor he may just hold his tongue.

It hadn't taken long for them to find the people who would take them into custody. By the time they were taken away, it was a sigh of relief, and then a realization that it was over, or would be over before they knew it.

Quinn walked about, observing the people, the places, everything around her. "This is the first time I've actually stopped and seen… I'm not on Earth," she smiled in awe.

"Six places in one day, you sure got around today," he told her, smiling back.

"I'm usually lucky if I can even get out of Lima," she agreed.

"You did good today," he complimented. "Some would say I asked a lot of you. But you got out of it, no harm done."

"With my one battle wound," she smirked, holding up her finger.

"What happened here?"

"Kitchen things," she shrugged. "It could have been worse." He held his words there, letting her get back to observing.

She had seen so much already, been forced to accept so many new things, but now here she was, and if she ever had any remaining doubts, seeing this place was all she would need to her the rest of the way. It didn't scare her, far from that. Just like when she had seen the TARDIS for the first time, saw the inside of it, she couldn't help but be fascinated.

It was an experience she would hold on to. She knew she wouldn't ever get to tell a soul, but she could do it. She had travelled through time and space with an alien…

They returned to the TARDIS, and sitting right there was her ticket home: Carter's vortex manipulator. She looked back to the Doctor, and he knew, too: the time had come.

TO BE CONCLUDED (WEDNESDAY)


	32. Next Stop Everywhere

_A/N: Last chapter... *sniffles* :')_

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_**This is a shift day [see above].** There will be another upload this afternoon: Old Wounds & New Alike._

* * *

**"You'll Find Wonder"**

**32. Next Stop Everywhere**

She had showered the circus day off her body, out of her hair, and then the fix-up had begun. She had to get her hair and makeup back to what it had been before she'd been taken by Carter, and then there was the dress. The pink dress felt so very out of place after everything that had gone down, but she put it back on. Soon she would be back in Lima, back on her way to Rachel's wedding.

It felt like an eternity ago now… She could almost think she was leaving home all over again. She had helped people, made friends… She had taken herself so far out of her usual life she couldn't see anything to connect her to the life she'd left behind, and then… she'd put the pink dress back on and she was that girl who'd stuck out the night before. She sighed… It was time to get back and face the music.

She returned to the control room, where the Doctor was trailing along the console. "So… How does this work?" she asked and he looked up. He took in her appearance, had a sad smile… She guessed he was sad to see her go, and she smiled back. He pointed to the cuff.

"It's all set to take you back to the point in time and space where you were taken from. I'll show you where to press."

"And what happens after that?" she asked, and he honestly had no idea what to tell her, until she went on. "What do I do with it, I mean isn't it bad to have technology that doesn't exist yet? Like it makes bad things happen?"

"I've also set it so you'll travel, but it won't," he promised. He took a breath. He just stared at her face, those eyes, staring back at him, and… he couldn't help himself. "Unless… There is another possibility in all this."

"Is there?" she asked.

"You could come with me," he told her.

"Go with you where?" she moved up to the console.

"Anywhere, any… when… The future, the past, the present, and everything in between, as you understand it. All these worlds you've seen tonight, oh… you only got a glimpse, and there are so many more. I could take you to see them, you could have so many more adventures before you put on that pink dress again." Maybe he couldn't save her, he knew… but he could give her this, couldn't he? No problem there…

"You really don't like this dress, do you?" she chuckled.

"If you want to keep it on, fine. The point here is I could show you things you only ever dreamed of, like this ship…"

"It is a pretty great ship," Quinn looked around, smiling, like she didn't want to forget an inch of it and would commit the whole thing to memory. "I can see why you take pride in it," she smirked to him and it was hard not to display his own share of that proud feeling.

"She has seen me through a lot," he touched the panel.

"Why is it always a 'she,'" she teased, and he stared back at her. She bowed her head. "It is tempting," she admitted.

"But…" he opened, and she thought.

"I can call it what I want. Adventure, sightseeing, exploration… It's still running, and I can't do that… not anymore. I would have never believed it, but I did have fun, no matter how I got here. Still, I'm supposed to go home. There are things I need to do, not just… this wedding I was on my way to. I'm going to finish high school soon, graduating, and then going to college. That's my adventure, my impossible turned possible. For a while I thought I'd never make it there, get out of Lima… You took me so much further than Lima today," she chuckled. "But now I need to finish this," she promised. He looked at her for a moment, then sighed, nodded.

"Quinn Fabray, you have been a delight, truly," he came up to her. "I would have shown you so much."

"You already have," she insisted, taking a chance and pulling up to hug him. He hugged back, smiling. "Now, listen, stay out of trouble," she 'scolded' him.

"I would, but it tends to find me wherever I go." She gave him an amused look like she didn't believe him. He could barely keep a straight face anymore. What if these were to be her last moments, her last memories, what if she…

"Alright," she took up the vortex manipulator, looked to it. "What button is it?" He stared for a long beat before…

"That one there," he pointed. She looked back up to him.

"Goodbye, Doctor. Thank you," she told him, waited… Could he commit her to memory, too?

"Goodbye, Quinn. It was my pleasure." She smiled, looked back to the cuff… and she was gone. The strap fell with a clunk to the metal of the TARDIS floor.

He would just stand there for some time, leaving the ship as silent as it could be, barring the usual ambient noises. Eventually he leaned down to retrieve the cuff, stared at it… His hand quivered, and before he knew it he was striding to the doors, opening them, and chucking the thing into space. He watched it float away, breathing ever calmer. He shut the doors, leaning to them for a few seconds before moving back to the controls.

He'd had to send her back, and as much as the thought of her being carelessly seated back into that timeline made his skin sit uncomfortable on his bones, he knew it was what he had to do. Knowing would have made it worse, and if she ran, then it would truly be running.

This was how events were set to unfold. If not for Carter Wellesley, then they would… He didn't know how things had ended up for her, when she got there, and this left him at a fork in the road. He could let it be, imagine what he wanted to believe, that she was alright, that she had gotten everything she had wanted, everything she deserved. Or he could just check, make sure. There didn't need be any harm done: she didn't even have to see him.

His hand was already on the lever, and, after a second, he had pulled it.

He had stashed the TARDIS in a corner, unseen by all. There were already enough people walking by, he could just fall in with the crowd, become one in the many. They were going into the building and he followed, a flash of psychic paper getting him through until he was able to take a seat between a bearded man and an old woman.

When the music came, he watched just as the others did. He heard the names called, watched the kids go by as their names were called and they gathered their diplomas.

"Quinn Fabray," the small man at the microphone called, and the Doctor looked to the side…

There she was, safe and well, and he felt something like tremendous relief in both of his hearts. Had Carter lied? No, he didn't think he had, he would have seen something else in his eyes, heard it in his voice. Something had happened, but whatever it was she had made it through. He knew time had passed for her, between the moment she had returned and now, her graduation… He wouldn't go digging, already coming here had been an indulgence of sorts.

He should have just left then and there, but sweeping the stage his eyes had found the blonde in the cap and gown wasn't the only familiar face. As suspected, there was the boy he had seen once, with Donna, back with his previous face. He saw the boy, but to his surprise, he wasn't the only one he recognized there. He never did believe in coincidence, now as he left with something of a smile, he knew maybe this wasn't over after all.

THE END


End file.
